site.btaUPDATED Continue the Change Leader Proposes March 29 as Election Date, Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Machine Voting

Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev Wednesday said that the most suitable date for elections is March 29 and warned of attempts to sabotage machine voting with unfeasible plans for introducing new vote counting devices. Vassilev was speaking to the press during a briefing at the presidency after Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria returned a mandate to form a government immediately after receiving it from the President.

Explaining to reporters how they arrived at the preferred date for elections, Vassilev said that the first week of April has already been designated as the Easter vacation by the Ministry of Education, and April 10 is Orthodox Easter, preceded by Catholic Easter. He argued that it would be impossible to hold elections or campaign before April 17, as the Easter period is not suitable for campaigning.  

He also said that during talks with the President, they discussed upcoming changes to the Election Code. Vasilev described the planned introduction of a new type of voting machine in under two months as a "most dangerous" move, as outlined in a plan prepared for the parliamentary legal committee, which is set to meet today. According to him, new machines cannot be implemented in such a short time; the plan is aimed at reverting to 100% paper ballots by making it impossible to use new machines in these elections. He recalled that the previous machines took two years to introduce, including partial elections, additional testing, and only then full machine voting.

Vassilev claimed that GERB, MRF - New Beginning, and There Is Such a People (TISP) want to introduce the so-called "counting devices" in just two months. Machines would first need to be purchased, ballots configured, tested, and certified at least 55 days before the elections, meaning everything would have to be completed by February 10 - a timeline he said is impossible. According to Vassilev, this is precisely why these parties are proposing it: they know it cannot be done.

For this reason, Vassilev called on citizens to join a protest on Wednesday evening in central Sofia to stop what he described as a "diabolical plan". He warned that the only thing that could prevent these parties from advancing their agenda - aside from CC–DB’s parliamentary resistance - was broad participation.

In response to a question about whether CC–DB expects to gather parliamentary support to restore full machine voting with the existing machines, Vassilev said that the last time politicians ignored the public, people saw the consequences. "Ultimately they listened, but we spent several hours on the square. If necessary, we’ll do it again so the parties hear what citizens think," he said.

He recalled that in previous elections with 100% machine voting, three different parties emerged as winners. Vassilev pointed out that the Borissov government had ordered and selected the voting machines. "If they don’t like them now, why did they choose them then?" he asked. He emphasized that the head of the Information Services company, which handles machine configuration, has not been replaced since the second Borissov government. He suggested that GERB should ask their own official whether the machines could be manipulated, calling for a return to 100% machine voting.

According to Vassilev, part of the electorate of GERB and MRF – New Beginning cannot read or use the voting machines, and full machine voting prevents fraud, invalid ballots, and vote misallocation by election commissions. He also supported auditing machine vote counts.

On Wednesday, the Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected a request from MPs Ivaylo Mirchev and Bozhidar Bozhanov of CC-DB for conducting a public audit of the voting machines. The proposal aimed to dispel speculation from political parties and civil organizations regarding the security of machine voting. CEC said that the request goes beyond their powers and cited the absence of a legal procedure or basis in the Election Code for such an action, despite acknowledging the request’s intent to reassure voters.

As he spoke to reporters on Wednesday, Vassilev further mentioned that 71 legal files and prosecutorial investigations against Boyko Borissov, some of which were not made public, were "squashed" by the prosecution. He questioned acting Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov about why Borissov’s immunity request was withdrawn and whether investigations would proceed. Vassilev called on the Supreme Judicial Council to act on January 20 and appoint a chief prosecutor who would not “shield Borissov.”

On a question regarding European security after former US President Donald Trump’s claims over Greenland, Vassilev said every country should have the right to determine its own future, rather than having other countries dictate its actions or alliances.