Election Commission: In order to have machine voting on Sunday, there must be a legal procedure for certifying the machines

In order to have machine voting in the second round of voting in the mayoral and municipal elections on Sunday, November 5, it is necessary to carry out a lawful certification procedure by the competent authorities in the prescribed manner, in accordance with the reasoning of the decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court.

This is clear from the position of Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) after yesterday's decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court against the cancellation of the machine voting. Yesterday, the court ruled that the minister of e-governance had unlawfully delegated powers to a deputy minister and the certification should have carried the signature of the minister rather than his deputy.

Central Election Commission decided: Voting will be conducted only with paper ballots in the upcoming local elections

In order to have machine voting on Sunday, a new procedure of trusted construction and a new hashcode is also necessary, CEC chairperson, Kamelia Neykova, clarified.

Since this morning, CEC has been in correspondence with the competent authorities on the certification of the devices - the Ministry of Electronic Government, the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology and the Bulgarian Institute of Standardization. The commission has requested that the authentication methodology signed by the competent authorities be sent to them as a matter of urgency.

"With regard to all the media publications and comments, we appeal: 'Let everyone do their job calmly so that the second round of elections on 5 November can be organised without unnecessary tension'.

"CEC shall apply the law in accordance with the exact meaning of the provisions of the Electoral Code. Henceforth, we expect the competent authorities to carry out their duties as they are assigned by law," said Kamelia Neykova.

CEC chairperson added that the report by the State Agency for National Security (SANS), which provoked the scandal with the voting machines, contains information that arouses distrust in the electoral process.

"I am not making an assessment of the SANS report, but it contains enough information to arouse distrust in the electoral process. If the CEC had allowed the machine voting in the presence of all the facts and circumstances that have been brought to our attention, what would have been the reaction of the public and the feeling of trust of the Bulgarian voters," she asked. All members of the CEC attended the press conference.

The Ministry of e-Government said earlier that it is opening a new certification procedure and that its teams will be working extra hours to make sure it is completed on time.

Images by BGNES

Earlier, CEC sent a statement regarding the court's decision:

"The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) accepts that the Central Election Commission has jurisdiction to issue the decision which was appealed. At the time of taking that decision and at the time of the rulings of the SAC, there was no duly issued decision by the competent authorities within the meaning of Article 213a(2) of the Electoral Code. Therefore, the decision of the CEC in so far as it concerns the holding of the elections for municipal councillors and mayors on 29 October is lawful.

According to the decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court, in order to hold a second round on November 5, 2023 with machine voting, the requirements of the law should be met and a lawful certification procedure must be carried out by the competent authorities in the prescribed manner, in accordance with the reasons of the court decisions," the statement said.

"We Continue the change-Democratic Bulgaria": Central Election Commission's decision is an attack on the conduct of fair elections and is illegal

Deputy Minister for e-Governance: Decision on voting machines certification has been issued

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On Monday, October 30, the Supreme Administrative Court annulled the Central Election Commission (CEC) decision to forbid the use of voting machines in Bulgaria’s 2023 municipal elections.

The court’s ruling was not subject to appeal.

According to the CEC decision, taken on October 27, two days before the first round of the local elections, voters would use only paper ballots in the municipal elections.

The CEC decision was taken on the basis of a report by the State Agency for National Security (SANS). The commission said that the integrity of the machine voting process had been compromised.

On October 30, deputy minister of e-government Mihail Stoynov, issued a media statement explining why allegations that he had violated the law in respect of machine voting were unfounded.

The CEC decision to forbid the use of voting machines led to the government demanding the resignation of the deputy head of SANS, who signed the report containing the allegations that Stoynov and others have dismissed as baseless. Protests were held demanding the return of the option of machine voting.