site.btaPM Reports Three Accomplishments in Preparing Elections: Securing Voting Screens, Accessibility Tools and Operations against Vote-Buying

High voter turnout is stronger than all criminal schemes, caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov told a briefing of the Elections Coordination Council on Wednesday updating the media on the preparations for the early parliamentary elections this Sunday. Gurov outlined three accomplishments of the government in organizing fair and transparent elections: voting screens that protect the vote, technologies that make voting more accessible, and operations against vote manipulation.

Regarding the first accomplishment, Gurov said that "the era of dark rooms and dark methods of vote control" has come to an end. "For the first time, voting will take place using voting screens, and this is not just a technical detail but a boundary between free choice and controlled voting," the Prime Minister noted. He emphasized that the screens preserve the secrecy of the vote but put an end to photographing ballots, removing ballots from pockets, and using any improvised methods to mark the "correct" box on the ballot paper.

A total of 10,897 voting screens have been distributed to all municipalities in order to put an end to at least some of the practices involving vote-buying and manipulation, said Gurov's advisor, Vanya Nusheva.

The second success highlighted by the Prime Minister is a step towards genuine accessibility. A computer application has been developed for people with visual impairments, which will allow them to hear the candidate lists at their polling station and make an informed choice.

As a third success, he defined the fact that the state is more organized than vote traders. The results, he said, are more arrests but also higher trust. "There is no hiding place, drawer or candidate list that can conceal those who seek to distort and corrupt the vote of citizens," the Prime Minister stated.

He added: "The government is approaching the moment when it will hand over the baton to the Central Election Commission, to the conscience of all members of the section election commissions, and to the eyes of citizens and organizations that will safeguard the vote on April 19."

Gurov said that acting Interior Ministry Secretary General Georgi Kandev had told him there is operational intelligence about a huge amount of counterfeit euros that will be used during the elections. Gurov commented: "Not only do they want to distort the vote of Bulgarian citizens, but they also want to directly deceive them." According to the Prime Minister, it is up to the authorities to ensure that vote buyers are arrested, while it is up to citizens, through their vote on Sunday, to render the efforts of those buying votes meaningless. He stressed the importance of high voter turnout.