In the early days of the 51st National Assembly, the „Vazrazhdane“ party submitted a bill for amendments and additions to the Electoral Code. The proposed changes aim to limit, to the greatest extent possible, purchased, controlled, and dependent voting.
Among the proposed changes, in addition to eliminating paper ballots, the numbers on ballots, and the voting booths, are the creation of up to 20 voting sections in EU countries outside of Bulgaria‘s diplomatic and consular missions; allowing only one electronic application to be submitted from a single IP address through the CEC’s website; and removing the possibility of submitting electronic applications from within Bulgaria via the CEC website. There are also proposed changes to the regulations concerning the premises used by the Regional Election Commission (REC), which are to meet specific requirements in order to ensure better control and transparency.
„Vazrazhdane“ also proposed changes regarding the criteria for selecting members of the Central Election Commission (CEC), focusing on their managerial and professional experience, and, most importantly, requiring political impartiality—specifically, the absence of party positions or active political involvement for a period of three years. Additionally, it is proposed that the CEC should ensure continuous communication between the CEC and the Regional Election Commission (REC) for monitoring the transmission of protocols, reporting any irregularities, and providing data from the counting process. The proposal also includes the early termination of a member’s mandate in case of replacement, upon a request from the party leader who proposed the member, and that voting should be conducted exclusively with a machine voting ballot.
Adequate changes to the Electoral Code are urgently needed, given the massive scale of bought and controlled voting that was observed in the last elections. Therefore, we propose that during the acceptance and processing of the protocols from the election sections by the regional election commissions, real-time video broadcasting and recording should be implemented in a way that ensures immediate visibility of all actions taken by the REC members. Additionally, any recounting of votes should be carried out in the presence of at least two representatives from different party or coalition quotas on the REC, who would sign the protocol.
„Vazrazhdane“ also proposed the REC to adopt rules for organizing the spaces for receiving, verifying, and processing election documents and protocols. This would involve creating designated areas for receiving and processing the protocols from the SEC and preventing the removal of protocols from these designated areas unless they have been accepted by the REC. The same proposals regarding real-time video broadcasting and the creation of special zones for receiving election documents are also being suggested for the work of the Municipal Election Commission (MEC).
„Vazrazhdane“ is preparing to hold a round table on changes to the Electoral Code.
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