site.btaElection Law Changes Should Boost Turnout and Trust, Socialist MP Kiselova Says

In a television interview, BSP-United Left MP Nataliya Kiselova said here on Thursday that changes to election legislation should aim to increase voter turnout and public trust. Kiselova noted that one of the reasons Bulgaria is facing an acute political crisis is the lack of trust in the National Assembly.

She added that the position of BSP-United Left would be presented at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. The party’s understanding favours the use of scanning devices, but at present the country is not ready for their introduction, she noted.

Asked about the formation’s proposal to introduce prior registration for citizens who did not vote in the previous elections, Kiselova said the idea had been put forward at the beginning of the 51st National Assembly. The aim had been to reduce the impact of the human factor and to compile an up-to-date register of citizens with voting rights, she explained, adding that it was currently not appropriate to maintain the proposal and it would be withdrawn.

At present, all citizens are registered by current address, Kiselova said, noting that the proposal had been made in a context allowing at least a year before elections. Creating confusion wouldn't be appropriate, given the short time-frame between the adoption of proposals and their implementation, she added.

Commenting on voting methods, Kiselova said there were problems with machine voting, citing the 2023 Sofia mayoral elections as an example. The voter profile in the most recent elections shows that more people voted on paper and fewer used machines, she said. 

Regardless of the changes made, all parliamentary groups must unite around them, Kiselova added.

During consultations with BSP - United Left ahead of the procedure to hand out mandates for forming a new government, BSP Chair and outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov told President Rumen Radev that the party supports machine voting, but not in its current form or with the present method of counting ballots. According to Zafirov, a significant number of voters also insist on paper ballots, despite the fact that the largest abuses occur there. A serious discussion is forthcoming within the party and the coalition on their position regarding paper voting, he said.