site.btaParties Clash over Method for Allocating Seats on Central Election Commission

Political parties clashed over the procedure for calculating the composition of the Central Election Commission (CEC) during consultations convened by President Iliana Iotova with the parliamentary groups represented in the 52nd National Assembly on Tuesday. The parties are presenting nominations for the new composition of the CEC following the expiration of the current members' terms of office.

Prof. Ivelina Dimitrova, Secretary for Legal Affairs at the President's Administration, explained that the balance among parliamentary parties and coalitions is preserved through the largest remainder method and that, when parties have equal remainders, priority is given to the smaller parliamentary group. Democratic Bulgaria Deputy Floor Leader Bozhidar Bozhanov challenged the interpretation.

Bozhanov said that different legal interpretations could lead to different outcomes, but mathematics was a more exact science. He argued that the proposed approach effectively adds to the law because the established practice of the CEC is that when a party reaches the maximum representation permitted by law, it is excluded from subsequent calculations.

He said this could be verified in the CEC's most recent decision on the allocation of section election commissions for partial local elections. According to Bozhanov, the denominator used in that calculation was 109, representing 240 minus 131, with the remaining parties receiving their allocation on the basis of that denominator rather than 240.

Bozhanov warned that applying the presidential administration's interpretation to slightly different election results could create a situation in which the CEC is left understaffed. In such a case, he said, there would be no remaining seats to allocate through the remainder method.

He asked whether the President's Office had sought an opinion from the CEC, which has applied the method for many years in its decisions, and suggested that, if no such opinion had been requested, the consultations should be postponed until one is obtained.

Bozhanov said that if no changes are made to the presidential decree governing the rules for appointing CEC members, Democratic Bulgaria's only remaining option would be to challenge the decree before the Constitutional Court, while seeking support from the other parliamentary groups.