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European Nation Becomes First Country to Overturn Election Over Foreign Interference

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In a globally unprecedented move, Romania’s Constitutional Court overturned the presidential election results after Romania’s intelligence agency alleged foreign interference through social media.

The episode makes Romania the first country to overturn election results due to allegations of foreign meddling through social media, a key flashpoint since allegations began prominently emerging globally after the 2016 U.S. election. In Romania’s case, the court overturned the results after a declassified report from its intelligence agency alleged foreign interference via TikTok.

The report came as Romania’s political establishment tried to figure out how Călin Georgescu, 62, running without a party, came in first in the first round of elections with 22.9% of the vote. His rise blindsided the entire Romanian political scene, especially as he hadn’t participated in any debates, didn’t register significantly in opinion polls, and didn’t belong to a party, something almost unheard of in Romanian politics.

Instead, Georgescu ran an almost exclusively online campaign, centering on TikTok edits of himself. The edits were usually clips of his speeches interwoven with him riding on horseback, swimming in icy mountain waters, or fighting in judo sessions, among other activities. His account quickly went viral, garnering 3.8 million likes and 298,000 followers, while his videos routinely receive millions of views, Politico reported.

Romania has the largest share of per capita TikTok users in Europe, with roughly half of its 19 million population being users of the app, according to data from the World Population Review. (Read more from “European Nation Becomes First Country to Overturn Election Over Foreign Interference” HERE)

Judge Rules Against GOP Lawsuit Claiming Election Misconduct

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A Michigan judge denied a motion from a group of Republicans seeking to halt certification of the election results from Detroit and initiate an independent audit of the election.

Wayne County Judge Timothy Kenny on Friday called the plaintiffs’ claims “incorrect and not credible.”

The lawsuit itself cited several affidavits of individuals claiming that there was widespread election fraud at the TCF Center, which was used as the central location to tabulate absentee ballots in Wayne County, where Detroit is located. The defendants in the case also provided sworn affidavits from individuals who were at the center and said that the Republican accusations were unfounded.

“After analyzing the affidavits and briefs submitted by the parties, this Court concludes the Defendants offered a more accurate and persuasive explanation of activity within the Absent Voter Counting Board (AVCB) at the TCF Center,” Kenny ruled. (Read more from “Judge Rules Against GOP Lawsuit Claiming Election Misconduct” HERE)

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