cik.bg Methods of Voting Bulgaria : Central Election Commission

Organisation : Central Election Commission
Facility : Methods of Voting
Country : Bulgaria
Election Code : https://www.electionin.org/uploads/2989-CODE.pdf
Website : https://www.cik.bg/en/laws

CIk BG Methods of Voting

** In the voting section, the voter may choose to vote by paper ballot or by voting machine ballot.

Related : Central Election Commission Bulgaria Non-Resident Voting Certificates : www.electionin.org/2976.html

** Voting by voting machine ballot shall be equivalent to voting by paper ballot.
** A voter, who has opted to vote by voting machine ballot, may not vote by paper ballot.
** The rules applicable to voting by paper ballot shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to voting by voting machine ballot.

Voting by Paper Ballots

Paper Ballots

(1) Combined paper ballots conforming to a standard design endorsed by the Central Election Commission shall be used for voting.

(2) The paper ballots referred to in Paragraph (1) shall be white, manufactured of dense non-transparent paper, which does not allow the secrecy of the ballot to be compromised, with sequential numbers and shall be protected by print security features.

Printing of Paper Ballots
** The paper ballots shall be printed by the printing works of the Bulgarian National Bank which, if necessary, may use other specialised printing works.

** The ballots shall be printed conforming to the requirements of the Ordinance on the Terms and Procedure for Printing of and Control over Securities (promulgated in the State Gazette No. 101 of 1994; amended in No. 38 of 1995, No. 73 of 1998, No. 8 of 2011, No. 54 of 2008 and No. 22 of 2011). The ballots shall be printed under the control of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Election Commission.

** Ballots shall be arranged in books of 100 ballots each.
** Upon elections of municipal councillors and of mayors, the number of ballots in a book shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.

** When a ballot is detached, an identical number must remain on the ballot and on the counterfoil, which shall be compared by the election commission after the ballot is completed and before it is deposited in the ballot box.

** The number of ballots printed under Paragraph (1) upon all types of elections shall equal the number of voters for the respective type of election increased by 10 per cent.

Ballot Boxes

The ballot boxes, wherein the paper ballots are to be deposited, shall be transparent and shall be sealed with paper tapes stamped with the seal of the section election commission and signed by the members of the commission who are present.

Ballot Box Filled Opening

** When the ballot box is filled with ballots, a paper tape bearing the signatures of the members of the commission shall be pasted over the slot thereof, thus precluding further use of the said ballot box, and the said tape shall be stamped with the seal of the section election commission.

** The full box shall remain on the voting table.
** The chairperson shall check whether the second box is serviceable and whether the said box is empty.
** The box shall be closed and sealed with paper tapes signed by the members of the commission present.
** The paper tapes shall be stamped with the seal of the section election commission, and voting shall proceed.
** This circumstance shall be entered in the tally sheet of the section election commission.
** The two boxes shall be opened simultaneously after completion of the voting, and the ballots found therein shall be counted together.

Machine Voting

Method of Voting

** A voter may vote in the voting section by means of specialised voting devices.

** A combined ballot for the respective type of election shall be created on a visual-display terminal or touch-screen terminal, and the voter shall mark unequivocally the vote thereof on the said ballot.

** The ballot shall be designed in the same manner as the paper ballot, enabling the voter not to vote for any one party, coalition or nomination committee.
** The Central Election Commission shall endorse the standard design of the ballot.
** After the voting is conducted, the system shall print out a control receipt which shall be deposited in a special machine voting box.
** The voter may not change the vote thereof by means of second machine voting.

System Requirements

Machine voting shall be implemented with the help of electronic means.

The electronic system shall be designed, implemented and maintained in a manner which:
1. ensure an easy and understandable access to the mechanisms and methods of machine voting, including facilitated access for visually impaired voters or voters with ambulant difficulties;
2. offers voters step-by-step instructions for machine voting;
3. ensures information of identical size and quality about each party, coalition, nomination committee or candidate;
4. guarantees the secrecy of the ballot and a free expression of the will of the voters;
5. does not allow vote manipulating, as well as any other undue influence on the election process;
6. ensures a possibility for easy handling of the user software and in particular of the ballot;
7. conforms to the highest standard for quality and reliability of the hardware and software used;
8. does not require from the voter any special skills other than the skills necessary for the use of computer terminals;
9. guarantees that each voter casts only one vote and that each vote is saved and counted only once;
10. ensures maximum reliability of safeguards against external interference and unauthorised access, including against hacker attacks;

11. in case of interruption of the election process due to the occurrence of insuperable external circumstances, saves the data on the voting and allows a resumption of the said process after elimination of the said circumstances;

12. allows the summing of the results and the transmittal thereof in the form of an electronic image to the constituency election commissions or the municipal election commissions and to the Central Election Commission after the completion of the voting;

13. ensures integrity and secrecy of the information which is transferred by means of encryption of the data and protection of the communication links;
14. maintains an electronic log of the election process, recording all irregularities and deviations from the envisaged mode which have occurred;
15. guarantees easy maintenance of the hardware and quick elimination of technical failures as they occur;
16. allows monitoring of the election process by independent authorised bodies;
17. allows audit and verification on the part of authorised bodies.

The Central Election Commission shall determine the technical requirements to the hardware and software part of the electronic system and shall give mandatory directions to the implementors of the hardware and software.

Information Arrangements Results

(1) Not later than seven days after the scheduling of the respective type of election, the Central Election Commission shall launch a page on the Internet site thereof for provision of information upon machine voting.

(2) The Central Election Commission shall organise, direct and control the procedure for conduct of the machine voting and the processing of the machine voting data.
(3) The results of the machine voting disaggregated by party, coalition or candidate shall not be announced before the closing of the polls.