BUCHAREST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Romania's Constitutional Court on Friday validated the results of the first round of the presidential election rerun held on May 4, confirming that the process complied with constitutional procedures.
In an official statement, the court announced that it had confirmed and validated the outcome of the first round, citing its constitutional mandate and the votes cast. It also rejected a request to annul the election submitted by Sebastian Popescu, the candidate of the New Romania Party.
Popescu's complaint, registered by the court on Tuesday, alleged that the two candidates advancing to the runoff - George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan - had used the same promotion methods that the candidates used in the 2024 campaign, during which, the results of the first round were annulled.
The court dismissed the complaint as unfounded and scheduled the second round of voting for Sunday, May 18.
According to final results published Tuesday by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), 9,571,899 voters participated in the first round, representing a turnout of 53.19 percent. Of these, 9,430,274 ballots - or 98.52 percent - were declared valid.
Simion received 40.96 percent of the vote, while Dan garnered 20.99 percent. ■