site.btaCC-DB Propose 100% Machine Voting, Ruling Coalition May Have Agreed on Significant Election Code Changes, Yes, Bulgaria's Bozhanov Says

Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP and Co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria, Bozhidar Bozhanov, told reporters on Tuesday that CC-DB "propose 100% machine voting, as was the case in the 2021 elections. In this pre-election situation, we must minimize changes to the Election Code, so we propose a return to machine voting exclusively."

On Wednesday, the parliamentary Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs is set to review at second reading a consolidated draft bill amending the Election Code, based on bills adopted at first reading and submitted by MPs including Kostadin Kostadinov (Vazrazhdane), Toshko Yordanov (There Is Such a People), Atanas Zafirov (BSP – United Left), Nadejda Iordanova and Kiril Petkov (Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria), among others. Committee members will also review at first reading a separate draft bill proposing fully machine-based voting, submitted by Nadejda Iordanova and a group of MPs. 

According to Bozhanov, the machines have proven that they produce "clean elections", without any manipulations and the results are available immediately. "Due to the absurd doubts expressed about the security of the machines, we sent a letter to the Central Election Commission saying that anyone who thinks the machines can be manipulated should come and manipulate them. Machines, flash drives, the code, everything they need will be provided, and once it becomes clear that there can be no manipulation, they should support our proposal for 100% machine voting," Bozhanov stated.

According to him, there is time for this change "because it is not something new, it’s a return to the previous state". There are enough machines, he added.

"From what we see in the draft bill to amend the Election Code, which is to be reviewed at second reading in the Legal Affairs Committee tomorrow, the consolidated one, not ours, we can conclude that the current majority, GERB-UDF, TISP, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - New Beginning, and BSP-United Left, may have already agreed on significant changes and the introduction of optical scanners," Bozhanov added. In his words, "this is a deceptive move, a tactical move by [MRF-New Beginning leader Delyan] Peevski and [GERB-UDF leader Boyko] Borissov, which was devised so that they could say: you wanted machines, you will have them, but different ones." These machines are a very significant change, Bozhanov said, adding that "they preserve all the schemes for buying and manipulating votes. Including the "Indian string", which in Balkan countries is called the "Bulgarian train". We are exporters of election manipulation." The Committee’s report states that there will be only one stamp, Bozhanov said. "The two stamps [one before the voter marks his preference and one before he casts his vote] guarantee that there will be no such string," Bozhanov added. "With their desire to introduce the scanners, they want to ensure that vote buying continues to the maximum extent possible. That is why tomorrow evening we call for a protest for fair elections at the Power Triangle [where the National Assembly is flanked by the President's Administration and the Council of Ministers]," Bozhanov announced.

In connection with President Rumen Radev's opinion on 100% machine voting with electronic reporting and manual control counting of receipts, Bozhanov explained that this is exactly what CC-DB’s proposes too, as this will minimize the subjective factor and give additional reassurance to everyone who claims that the machines can be manipulated.