site.btaCentral Election Commission Not to Allow Changes in District Election Commissions without Legal Grounds

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has taken stricter measures to curb violations in the upcoming elections and will not allow mass replacements of members of district election commissions without legal grounds, CEC Chair Kameliya Neykova told bTV on Sunday.

Neykova noted that a “wake-up call” for all institutions was the partial annulment of the 2024 elections, when, following a recount of ballots in over 2,200 polling stations, the results were recalculated. According to her, this time the CEC has adopted more definitive and specific methodological guidelines for the work of district election commissions in order to prevent violations. She emphasized that the human factor is of key importance for the organization and conduct of the elections.

Neykova said that upon receiving reports of district election commission members who had committed violations in previous elections, the CEC immediately orders their dismissal. She cited an example from Belitsa (Southwestern Bulgaria), where, following a tip from a journalist, two individuals were identified on CCTV footage tampering with ballots. 

The CEC Chair noted that the law does not allow the Commission to dismiss or appoint district election commission members on its own, but in such cases, instructions are given to the parties, coalitions, and constituency election commissions to take action. According to Neykova, the responsibility for proposing members of district election commissions lies with the parties and coalitions represented in Parliament.

She also commented on the mass replacements of district election commission members prior to previous elections, when more than 10,000 people were replaced in the week leading up to the vote. According to her, political forces are currently refraining from such actions, and the Constitutional Court’s ruling following the 2024 elections served as a warning.

Neykova noted that this year, the remuneration for election administration staff will be higher, expressing hope that this will also lead to better quality of work. 

She explained that the protocols for the district election commissions have been modified to be more similar in structure to the ballot, in order to avoid errors when recording the results. According to her, the instructions for operating the video surveillance devices have also been simplified as much as possible.

The CEC Chair also presented a mobile app developed by Information Services that assists with entering and verifying data from the protocols. The app is available on Google Play, the App Store, and the CEC website. Neykova urged members of the district election commissions to first enter the data into the app or the electronic protocol so it can be checked for errors, and then to fill out the original paper protocol.

Regarding machine voting, she stated that “everything is fine with the machines.” Neykova noted that the procedure for the trusted generation of the machine voting code has been completed and the hash code will be published and displayed in a prominent place in every polling station.

She also said that for the upcoming elections, the CEC had again requested from the machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, the specifications for the paper required for the devices, and the Bulgarian National Bank printing house had provided assurances that the paper used meets the requirements. According to CEC data, 9,354 machines will be used for voting in the country, and 129 at polling stations abroad, she explained. 

In her words, one of the reasons for the high number of invalid ballots in Bulgaria is the subjective human factor. She noted that post-election audits revealed that valid ballots had been counted as invalid. Neykova urged members of the district election commissions to exercise mutual oversight and clearly delineate their responsibilities at the very start of election day.

She expressed the view that penalties for violations in the electoral process should be stricter. In her opinion, the provisions in the Penal Code regarding crimes against citizens’ political rights are insufficient, and the administrative fines are too low.

The CEC Chair also commented on the limits on the number of polling stations outside the European Union, noting that there are twice as many applications to vote abroad compared to 2024 and warning that in countries such as Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States, there could be crowds at the polling stations. According to her, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CEC are working to open as many polling stations as possible at diplomatic and consular representations. Neykova said that, if necessary, voting hours could be extended by one hour, as permitted by law.

The CEC Chair also addressed the issue of vote buying, emphasizing that “if no one is willing to sell their vote, there is no one to buy it.” In her words, law enforcement must be uncompromising, and every perpetrator must be held accountable.