For the Politsnack blog of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Katja Christina Plate explores the annulled presidential elections in Romania. She describes how various campaigns and actors interacted to shape the outcome.
The previously unknown candidate, Călin Georgescu, won the first round — in clear violation of the country’s electoral law. His success highlights the growing power of digital election campaigns. Yet, even Georgescu’s right-wing populist successor achieved an outstanding result in the rerun, securing 40 percent of the vote.
Do these results simply reflect Romania’s political mood? Or were the campaigns so effective that they swayed voters in a lasting way? One thing is certain: elections today are also being won online. (MB)