Romania votes in presidential rerun after annulled election sparked political crisis

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00...arrived together at the polling station to cast their ballots at the same time.

00:04Callan Georgescu, the former far-right candidate who was declared ineligible to run,

00:10and George Simeon, the man who replaced him in this election and who is favored to win.

00:18We're here with only one possibility, a return to constitutional order and democracy.

00:25I am here to denounce the fraud, the fraud in this election.

00:31Once again, accusations of fraud from the man excluded from the presidential race by the Constitutional Court.

00:38His ban coming in the wake of the unprecedented cancellation of November's vote due to allegations of Russian interference.

00:46The move sparking one of Romania's worst political crises.

00:50Elsewhere in the country, the ten other candidates in the running also cast their ballots under the watchful eyes of OSCE election observers.

01:01Among them, Kryn Antonescu, a liberal candidate from the ruling coalition,

01:07and Nicosor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, another centrist who aligns with Europe.

01:12I want to continue down the European path that Romania must take, a Euro-Atlantic direction.

01:24These elections are crucial to avoid chaos.

01:28It's our last chance to return to normal.

01:30At stake, the direction of Romania.

01:36The EU and NATO member has been a crucial ally in Ukraine's fight against Russia.

01:42But if Simeon wins, he's vowed to cut aid to Kyiv.

01:45If no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote,

01:49then a second runoff between the top two contenders will be held on May 18.

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