„Today, Toma Bikov was at „NOVA“ to answer me about the machines. Yesterday I said that there are no indications of manipulation, and GERB did not come to analyze the source code in the legally established time. Let me use the „right of reply“ on all of Mr. Bikov’s statements. I will not go into the rhetoric of „where were you when..“, because you are probably tired of it – „Democratic Bulgaria“ /DB/ and I personally have been proposing measures to improve the process for years, and GERB are against it. But let’s assume they aren’t anymore.“
This is what Bozhidar Bozhanov, elected as an MP from „Democratic Bulgaria“ and Former Minister of e-Government, wrote on Facebook, and his post continued as follows:
„- Bikov claims that I dispute their right to doubt. Not at all. We all have a duty to question and take institutional action to improve the process. But for the Chairman of GERB to come out and say „100% of the machines were touched“ is not an expression of doubt, but another irresponsible suggestion.
– „we have not received an invitation“ – on the contact emails Ministry of e-Government sent invitations for every single event. The colleague from TU, broadcast by GERB, was in the first three, according to memory. We have received an invitation for the other two formations “(DB” and „We Continue the Change”), so I would recommend that you check your email again. But yeah, that’s not the most important thing.
– „1 hour is not enough“ – that’s right. But it wasn’t one hour. No one kicked me out, but I figured I had the base scenarios that could be checked within the day covered. I remind you that we therefore appealed the CEC’s decision, asking for more time. What attitude did the representatives of GERB in the CEC take on the complaint? Whether it takes two months – I don’t think so, but it doesn’t hurt. The code is very well covered by automated tests, and I’ve checked all the places that write to the file system (and how they are accessed). Therefore, for the short time I have a degree of confidence that there is no „cheating“ in the code.
– There are too many “ I do not support anyone“ votes. To have. Because this is the 4th election in a row and there are a lot of disappointed people. And let’s go back to 2017 (where the activity was still much higher) – there are also 87 thousand „I do not support anyone“.
– Mr. Bikov claims that while I was a minister, I did nothing for the transparency of machine voting. The reality is different – so different that media close to GERB accused me of interfering with the CEC, since the Ministry of e-Government sent us a draft of rules for access to the code. So let them decide what it is – that I worked with the CEC and sent documents, or that I did nothing.
Yes, we need to improve the processes around machine voting and we need to increase trust. Claims, such as GERB’s, that „machines are tampered with“ do not do this. Doubts are obligatory, so are improvements, but suggestions are irresponsible.”
The Iskra.bg team reminds that this is another attempt by GERB to make suggestions. According to political analysts, they are challenging the fairness of the vote because its results show the public’s disillusionment with their model of governance. Claiming that he was rigged, they want to create the impression among voters that their vote does not matter, so that in the next election they will not go to the polls, and their fate will be decided by paid voters and minorities.
