Legal Committee Begins Debate on Electoral Code Changes.

The parliamentary legal affairs committee is beginning another round of discussions on changes to the Election Code. Draft bills submitted by the ruling Progressive Bulgaria, We Continue the Change, Democratic Bulgaria, Vazrazhdaneand Delyan Peevski’s DPS will be reviewed.

Progressive Bulgaria, WCC, DB and Vazrazhdanehave united around the return of machine voting, although differences are emerging over voting abroad and the introduction of an overseas constituency.

Yesterday, Progressive Bulgaria said it was proposing fully machine-based voting, the removal of the limit of up to 20 polling stations outside EU countries, the abolition of the overseas constituency, and the publication of polling results on social media before 8:00 p. m.

We Continue the Change also wants machine voting to be restored, with the result recorded through a printed protocol and through data from the recording technical device. Unlike the ruling party, however, WCC wants an overseas constituency to be introduced.

Democratic Bulgaria will support some of the proposed changes to the Election Code submitted by the ruling majority, but will not back the abolition of the multi-member overseas constituency.

DB MP Nadezhda Yordanova said in the corridors of parliament that during the second reading of the bill, the parliamentary group would not support the proposal to abolish the overseas constituency.

Yesterday it became clear that the ruling majority supports two of our causes — voting in Bulgaria should mainly be done by machines, and the limit on the number of polling stations outside European Union member states should be removed, Yordanova said.

The motives to the proposals state that the change is necessary in view of creating a mechanism for allocating seats in a multi-member constituency outside the country.

For Bulgarian citizens outside the country, there is no national census data comparable to the population data in the multi-member constituencies inside the country, the motives state.

WCC believes this would guarantee full representation for Bulgarian citizens abroad and remove restrictions that hinder the effective exercise of voting rights.

The proposed amendments to the Election Code submitted by Progressive Bulgaria provide for the restoration of machine voting in the form in which it was introduced in 2021.