site.btaUPDATED Parliament Adopts Election Code Amendments on Machine Voting, Voting Abroad and Accessibility

The National Assembly on Thursday passed on second reading Election Code amendments removing the cap on voting sections in non-EU countries, abolishing the Abroad constituency, introducing mandatory machine voting in most voting sections, and introducing special features for voters with visual impairments.

Parliament voted 151-36, with one abstention, to scrap the limit of up to 20 voting sections outside Bulgaria's diplomatic missions and consular posts in non-EU countries. The change was adopted at second reading as part of amendments to the Election Code.

Progressive Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Democratic Bulgaria, Continue the Change and several MPs of Vazrazhdane voted in favour, GERB-UDF and some MPs of Vazrazhdane voted against, and one Democratic Bulgaria MP abstained.

The cap was introduced through Election Code amendments adopted conclusively by Parliament on February 5. It applied to voting sections outside Bulgarian diplomatic missions and consular posts in non-EU countries. On July 28, the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee backed its abolition.

Parliament voted 124-53 to abolish the Abroad multi-member constituency. Progressive Bulgaria and Vazrazhdane voted in favour, while GERB-UDF, the MRF, Democratic Bulgaria and Continue the Change voted against.

Thus the total number of constituencies was reduced from 32 to 31, including three in the capital Sofia and two in Plovdiv Region.

Parliament also decided that the Central Election Commission (CEC) must establish a training unit to organize and conduct training for election commission members, as well as develop programmes and materials explaining voting procedures to voters. Meetings of municipal election commissions will be livestreamed on their websites, where draft agendas must be published in advance.

Constituency or municipal election commissions will appoint section election commissions for each voting section in Bulgaria no later than 15 days before election day, instead of the current 25 days.

Parliament rejected a proposal by Vazrazhdane MP Peter Petrov to introduce a minimum education requirement of completed primary education for members of section election commissions.

Voting will be conducted entirely by machine in voting sections with more than 300 registered voters. Voters will cast their ballots using specialized voting devices. The amendments also provide that, after a vote is cast, the machine will print a control receipt, which will be deposited in a separate box designated for machine voting.

After voting ends, section election commissions will report the machine voting results by printing a tally sheet from the machine and carrying out a manual count of the control receipts.

Machine voting will not be used in voting sections in Bulgaria with fewer than 300 registered voters, mobile voting sections, voting sections in hospitals, residential care homes and other social institutions, voting sections aboard Bulgarian-flagged vessels, or voting sections abroad where fewer than 300 applications to vote have been submitted or fewer than 300 voters cast ballots in the previous election.

Parliament rejected a proposal by Continue the Change MP Stoyu Stoev to introduce machine voting in sections with more than 100 registered voters.

It also rejected an MRF proposal by Halil Letifov under which voters would cast paper ballots that would then be counted by optical scanning machines.

MPs further rejected a proposal requiring polling agencies conducting election day surveys to declare, upon registration with the CEC, that they would not disclose or provide exit poll data to media outlets, political parties, coalitions or other entities before 8 p.m. on election day.

The fines for publishing opinion poll results before 8:00 p.m. on election day were increased to between EUR 5,000 and EUR 10,000, up from the previous range of BGN 2,000 to BGN 5,000. For repeat violations, the fine will be between EUR 10,000 and EUR 15,000, compared with the previous BGN 5,000 to BGN 10,000.

Voters with permanent disabilities preventing them from going to a voting section can cast their vote in a mobile ballot box even if they missed the application deadline when the disability arose or was established after the deadline. In such cases, they must present a document issued by a Territorial or National Expert Medical Commission certifying the type of permanent disability and their inability to go to a voting section.

The amended Election Code stipulates that no more than 30 voters may cast ballots through a single mobile section election commission.

Unanimously, with 178 votes in favour, Parliament approved Ivan Yanev's proposal from Progressive Bulgaria to equip voting machines with features enabling voters with visual impairments to vote without assistance and while preserving the secrecy of the vote. Voting with the assistance of a companion will be allowed only when, due to the nature of their disability, voters are unable to cast their ballot independently despite the accessibility features provided. This provision will not take effect for the presidential elections in the autumn, but for next year's local elections, Yanev said.

The features to be added to voting machines will include at least an audio interface with a Bulgarian-language voice module using headphones, accessible controls including a tactile or virtual keyboard, and options for enlarged font sizes and high-contrast modes for voters with low vision. MPs also approved a provision requiring each voting section using paper ballots to have at least one tactile template for the respective election, allowing blind voters to mark their choice independently and in secrecy.