Bulgaria’s President vetoed amendments to the Electoral Code

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev on December 14 vetoed amendments to the Electoral Code, passed by Parliament earlier this month, on December 2.

The amendments re-introduced the use of paper ballots on a par with voting machines during elections, introduced screens instead of polling booths, and provided for that voting machines will print out ballots which will be counted manually after the close of the polls along with the paper ballots cast and the preferences.

In his veto reasoning, Radev said that the freedom to choose how to cast the vote – using a voting machine or a paper ballot – was not one enshrined in the Constitution and that Parliament had to set clear rules for the voting process.

Most provisions related to machine voting do not meet the constitutional standards of equality and secrecy of the vote, the President said in his motives.

The legislator is obliged to determine a voting method that treats voting by machine and by paper ballot equally and in all cases - while guaranteeing the secrecy of the vote. By introducing, by § 7 of the adopted law, alternatively both ways of voting within the same polling station, the legislator does not act within the limits of legislative expediency, but creates conditions for the secrecy of the vote to be violated. Depending on the number of voters who will vote one way or the other, their choice may end up being identified, which in itself leads to the mutual nullification of both alternative voting methods and negates the purpose of elections as an instrument of democracy. Furthermore, the regulation in § 7(2) creates legal uncertainty, as it introduces an explicit restriction only for voters who choose to vote by "machine ballot" not to vote by paper ballot. By placing the prohibition at the time of preference for machine voting, the lawmaker deprives the voter of a paper ballot if the machine breaks down at that time. There is no symmetrical prohibition against voters who prefer to vote by paper ballot from voting by machine ballot. This clearly shows the legislator's preference to guarantee paper ballot voting and not provide the same guarantees for machine voting, in violation of the principle of equality, Radev said in his reasoning.

“Machine voting is no longer an alternative for ballots but is in effect also casting a ballot, just not one printed in the Bulgarian National Bank printing house, but one printed by a machine in the voting precinct. This eliminates the point of machine voting and, in practice, denies voters the ‘right to choose’ how to vote,” Radev said.

"Stability of the legal framework and consistent legal regulation are among the hallmarks of the rule of law. Legislative expediency can and should be exercised only within constitutionally established limits, with which the enacted Law on amendments and additions appears incompatible, as it does not guarantee the equality of voters before the law, the secrecy of their vote and the optimal organisation of the electoral process abroad. the President concluded.