The ban on voting by a paper ballot at polling stations with more than 300 voters is the most scandalous thing in the new election rules, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) spokesman Dimitar Dimitrov. On the air of „BNT“ he pointed out that there is no such thing anywhere in the world and reminded that an extraordinary issue of the State Gazette is to be published today.
„The President must appoint a new CEC staff earlier than 14 days. There are about 2 months until the elections. This is a very short time for any team to cope, no matter how motivated they may be with what lies ahead. There is one good circumstance – the package of documents and decisions exist and very little needs to be edited, but there are also unacceptable things. The most scandalous in the new rules is the ban on voting by a paper ballot and using only devices. This, after all, is not in harmony with the Constitution. I take this opportunity to address the Ombudsman and write a written statement on the matter. This is a dramatic limitation of the opportunities to exercise the vote.“, Dimitrov said.
The Commission spokesman noted that machines were not a panacea for the problems. He also shared a disturbing story related to them from the last elections on April 4, namely:
„The machines had to be delivered on Saturday. In the early afternoon, they started calling from the REC and saying “the machines are gone, but there is a delivery from “Econt”. What should we do with it? The machines must arrive by organized transport from “Ciela”. Instead, 2-3 machines arrive from “Ciela” in each DEC. During the crisis discussion, “Ciela” claimed that these were not machines coming out of the warehouse, but falling from the sky somewhere. And everyone is starting to think about the Maduro scenario.“
Dimitrov justified the CEC’s silence on the case by saying that he must keep his distance from each campaign and, above all, he must inspire security. According to him, if they had said about the violation, new elections would have been demanded. He also commented on what he meant by the Maduro scenario:
„About 1 billion votes in the same company, which itself assessed what happened in Venezuela as a replacement of the election result – replacement of machines that are not certified. In this way, by replacing the machines, it led to a result in which Maduro received 1 billion more votes. This is something that no one is discussing. Anyone who claims that machines are a panacea for problems must understand that we are working with software that is made in China, hardware that is made in Taiwan, a company with a controversial reputation, and a private company – “Ciela”. It all depends on how well this private company is doing its job.”
The CEC has 20 people, up to 4 of whom have an idea of what the use of a voting machine technologically means, Dimitrov added.
„While using a machine and paper, one can still make a comparison and see what is happening and whether there are any deviations. At the moment, what is being done is: whatever the machine produces – the private company, this will be the result. But what’s the point of using machines if we’re going to look at paper prints later? Where there has been double use of machinery, the difference in the use of machinery is from 27% to 29%. The Bulgarian does not use a machine. The message of the midnight debate is now to oblige him. There is nothing else. There is no country that has outsourced to foreign companies the technology by which the election result is produced. I find this scandalous.“, he added.
The CEC spokesman predicted chaotic elections because he said the parties were obsessed with their own fantasies and did not even want to talk. According to him, there are contradictions in the new rules.
„There was a text to provide postal voting, if possible, but who will say whether it is possible? Everything that happened during the week is in absolute contradiction with any standard of the Venice Commission of the General Assembly, etc. It is clear that this should not be done until half a year before the election. The parties are obsessed with what they envision as an election result. The President, after signing the decree, put the state seal, initiated the issuance of an extraordinary issue of the State Gazette, probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will have current legislation. It burdens the next CEC with almost impossible tasks.„, he said.
„Within 2 weeks, the CEC must vacate its premises and move, accepting 9,400 devices. This is not a simple job, because every device has a peripheral, but it doesn’t matter to those who write the solutions. It is important for them to have a new CEC. This is the promise of Mrs. Manolova. After all, this is a man who burned protocols because he has access to them and has publicly explained that machines produce a protocol, which is not true. This is a massive lie, and then we are to blame for not giving her a car to take home.„, Dimitrov said.
„Several of the parties are so obsessed with the election result that they are doing what they can to achieve it. Everything is subject to their imagination and their wet dreams of interest. All this is against common sense. The CEC does not want to get involved in the campaign. I am not sure that the CEC will cope with its forthcoming tasks. You will have to drive a machine with every county in the UK. My expectation is to have some chaotic choices. If there are any screenwriters behind all this, they rely on the chaos in order not to produce an election result that is credible and must be accepted.“, Dimitrov concluded.
