site.btaContinue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria Submits Bill for 100% Machine Voting

The opposition Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition Thursday submitted a bill amending and supplementing the Election Code, which fully reinstates machine voting. The reasoning of the bill is that "it is a necessary and timely step to strengthen democratic principles, enhance transparency and ensure the integrity of the electoral process in the Republic of Bulgaria".

The sponsors of the draft legislation state that "practical experience clearly demonstrates that full-scale machine voting provides a more reliable, transparent and objective mechanism for exercising the right to vote. In this regard, its reinstatement is a necessary measure to address the deficiencies identified in the electoral process."

The return to full-scale machine voting aims to ensure a higher degree of accuracy, security and traceability of votes, as well as to guarantee equal treatment of all participants in the electoral process.

The reasoning of the bill sets out the following objectives:

• To reinstate full-scale machine voting as the primary and sole method of voting in elections, except in cases explicitly provided for by law;
• To eliminate invalid votes and reduce human errors in the tabulation of results;
• To limit opportunities for vote manipulation, including through controlled or employer-coerced voting;
• To facilitate the work of section election commissions and expedite the processing of election results;
• To increase citizens' confidence in the electoral process and democratic institutions.

CC-DB also said the implementation of full-scale machine voting does not require a significant increase in election costs, as Bulgaria already has a substantial number of certified voting machines, along with an established logistical and organizational infrastructure.

Background

Bulgaria's experience with machine voting has been turbulent. The idea of voting by a device as a tool to streamline the balloting process and eliminate irregularities was pioneered in this country as early as 2004. Machine voting was formally introduced by a new Election Code on March 5, 2014, and full-scale machine voting was used countrywide for the first time in the April 4, 2021 parliamentary elections.