site.btaInformation Services Denies Any Role in Configuring Voting Machines

Information Services (IS), the Bulgarian system integrator, Wednesday denied ever being assigned or ever performing any activities related to configuring voting machines. The company issued a statement in response to remarks made by Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP and CC leader Assen Vassilev, the company said.

According to IS, such activities are commissioned by the Central Election Commission (CEC) and are carried out by a private company.

During a briefing at the presidency today, Assen Vassilev said that if GERB believes someone is manipulating the machines, they should ask their own appointee, who continues to head Information Services, whether any manipulation is occurring and whether the machines can even be manipulated.

Since the introduction of machine voting in Bulgaria in 2014, the private company Ciela Norma has been the supplier of voting machines, responsible for their technical support, as well as the creation and maintenance of machine voting software. Ciela Norma is the sole partner of the manufacturer Smartmatic in Bulgaria, the statement notes.

Information Services clarified that, according to the Election Code, its responsibilities are strictly limited to organizing and implementing the computer processing of election data (aggregation of results) at the district and central election commissions and issuing official result bulletins, including results from machine voting.

The company added: “We hope that in the current pre-election situation in the country, MPs, those drafting Election Code revisions, and legislators in Bulgaria will finally inform themselves correctly about the facts related to the electoral process and the responsibilities of each participant. It is high time to stop political speculation, which only continues to undermine trust in the electoral process. It is no coincidence that since the parliamentary elections of 2021, the number of Bulgarian citizens exercising their right to vote has decreased by nearly 750,000.”

The company emphasized that it has never had - and has no role in - the technical operation of the specialized electronic voting devices (SEVM), including configuration, installation, software testing, or modifications.

Information Services stated that it will not allow to be drawn into "what is clearly already an election campaign, carried out through manipulation, insinuations, and falsehoods".