site.btaElection Commission, Public Council Discuss Machine Voting, Joint Working Group on Voting Machines

The newly appointed Central Election Commission (CEC) held its first working meeting with its Public Council on Wednesday, the Commission said in a press release.

The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between the CEC and the Public Council to make better use of the expertise of civil society organizations. Some representatives of non-governmental organizations participated online.

The Public Council presented an analysis of machine voting. Participants discussed a proposal to establish a joint working group to review the process for verifying voting machines and the mechanism for printing and producing paper records during machine voting.

They also discussed preparations for the CEC's upcoming voter information campaign on voters' rights and responsibilities, as well as ways to use the Public Council's expertise in developing the Commission's public information initiatives.

According to the CEC, participants agreed that stronger cooperation between the Commission and the Public Council would help improve transparency, public confidence and the effectiveness of the electoral process.

On Tuesday, Progressive Bulgaria announced that it had submitted proposed amendments to the Election Code providing for the restoration of machine voting in the form used in 2021, the abolition of the Abroad constituency, and the removal of the limit of 20 polling stations in countries outside the European Union.

The CEC held its first meeting after the appointment of its new members on June 24.