section_path: Annulment
section_name: Annulment
paragraph_text: Annulment
  
  On 2 December, the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously to confirm the first round results and upheld the organisation of the runoff on 8 December between Georgescu and Lasconi; however, the Court reversed its decision on 6 December and annulled the election results after President Iohannis allowed the declassification of information in the Supreme Council of National Defence. The Romanian Service of Information also declared that Georgescu said he had a "Zero lei electoral campaign budget", but subsequent investigations revealed an undeclared donation of up to €1,000,000 from third parties. This prompted the Court to annul the election results.
  
  The annulment was condemned by both Georgescu and Lasconi, with Georgescu describing the court's verdict as a "formalised coup d'état ", and Lasconi calling it "illegal immoral" and stating that it "crushes the very essence of democracy". Fourth-placed George Simion also called the verdict a "coup d'état in full swing" but urged against street protests. Third-placed Marcel Ciolacu called the annulment "the only correct decision".
  
  President Iohannis also said the court's decision was legitimate and should be respected, adding that he would remain in office until a successor is inaugurated. Russian state interference in the election was widely reported, including state-sponsored cyberattacks, and the annulment was described as "an extraordinary step" by The Washington Post.
  
  The annulment also forced a halt to advanced voting in 951 overseas polling stations for the diaspora that had opened on 6 December, after approximately 50,000 Romanians had cast ballots.
  
  On 7 December, prosecutors searched properties across the country in an investigation into the financing of a candidate's campaign, with investigators saying money laundering was used to fund the campaign. Although the candidate's name was not revealed, Georgescu and his campaign were reportedly the target of the searches.
  
  On the day of the cancelled runoff, Georgescu and around 100 of his supporters held a protest outside a polling station in Bucharest demanding that the election be held. An online petition calling for free elections was also launched by the AUR, which supported Georgescu. Following the annulment of the presidential election, the new government formed after the 2024 Romanian parliamentary election on 1 December is expected to set new dates for a presidential vote. Ilie Bolojan, president of the PNL, said the rerun will likely occur either before Easter in late March or early April, or after Easter in May.
  
  On 17 December, the European Commission announced an investigation into TikTok over interference in the elections. On 21 December, the political magazine Politico Europe reported that the pro-European PNL had financed a general political campaign, the hashtags of which were then used to promote Georgescu. On 12 January 2025, tens of thousands of people protested in Bucharest against the annulment of the election.
  
  Some Romanian politicians supported Georgescu's participation in the new presidential elections in May 2025. Former liberal leader Crin Antonescu said: "It is not just about or his statements but about a broader theme — society's trust in the fairness and reliability of the democratic system, particularly elections."
  
  On 21 January, the European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal by Georgescu to reverse the annulment, saying that it did not have jurisdiction over the case. Six days later, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe published an "Urgent Report on the cancellation of election results by Constitutional Courts", which had been commissioned by the Council of Europe President, Theodoros Rousopoulos, on 13 December 2024.
  
  At the 2025 Munich Security Conference US Vice President JD Vance criticised the annulment, stating that "If your democracy can be destroyed with a few $100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with". He said that the Romanian courts had decided to annul the elections under pressure from "flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors" (referring to the Romanian Intelligence Service).
  
  On 24 April 2025, a judge of the Ploiești Court of Appeals overturned and suspended the Constitutional Court's ruling that had annulled the election. The Central Electoral Bureau subsequently stated that the 2025 election, due on 4 May, would continue as normal. The Prosecutor's Office attached to the Ploiești Court of Appeals appealed the decision, and the Superior Council of Magistracy referred the judge for potential disciplinary misconduct.
  
  In the first round of the 2025 presidential election, Simion won 41 per cent of the vote in the first round on 4 May, with Nicușor Dan defeating him 53.6%–46.4% in the runoff on 18 May. Dan's presidency began on 26 May 2025.