Election
Romania 2025 Repeat Presidential Election
May 4, 2025 – May 18, 2025
Romania reran its presidential election after the Constitutional Court annulled the November 2024 first round. George Simion led the new first round with 40.96%, but independent Nicușor Dan won the runoff with 53.60%. ODIHR found the vote efficiently managed and competitive while identifying fragmented online oversight, widespread inauthentic behaviour and legal concerns around candidate eligibility. The court dismissed Simion's post-election foreign-interference complaint as unfounded.
Official results
Round 1
- George Simion41%3,862,761
- Nicușor Dan21%1,979,767
- Crin Antonescu20.1%1,892,930
- Victor Ponta13%1,230,163
- Elena Lasconi2.7%252,721
Round 2
- Nicușor Dan53.6%6,168,642
- George Simion46.4%5,339,053
The Integrity Ledger
What the evidence establishes, and what it does not — side by side, each finding sourced and tiered.
What is established
- Information operationsConfirmed
ODIHR documented widespread use of inauthentic online behaviour by candidates and a fragmented regulatory response during the repeat campaign. It also recorded disinformation narratives that state authorities assessed as originating outside Romania; ODIHR reported that assessment rather than making its own attribution.
Sources:1 - Process violationsConfirmed
ODIHR found that candidate-eligibility requirements based on court rulings rather than clear legal provisions detracted from the inclusivity of candidate registration.
Sources:1
What is not established
- Foreign interferenceContested
George Simion's challenge alleging foreign interference and disinformation sufficient to annul the runoff was unanimously dismissed as unfounded by the Constitutional Court, which validated the result. The dismissal establishes that the annulment challenge failed, not that no interference occurred — a distinction the sibling 2024 record also preserves.
- Result falsificationDebunked
The Central Electoral Bureau published polling-station-level results and the Constitutional Court validated the winner. The cited record does not establish altered ballots or vote totals.
Process assessment
Observers assessed the election as competitive and efficiently administered, with genuine political choice, while identifying shortcomings in candidate eligibility, transparency, media conditions and online oversight.