Election Video Monitoring System Designed to Ensure Transparency During Ballot Counting

Video surveillance in the electoral process is organised in a way that ensures full transparency during the counting of ballots, while also guaranteeing the inviolability and secrecy of the vote, the Ministry of e-Governance said two days before the election on 19 April.

According to the ministry, no video monitoring takes place during the actual voting process, and cameras in polling stations are switched off in voting rooms located in schools. They are activated only after the official end of election day and once the chair of the polling station commission declares voting closed.

Video recording begins during the counting of ballots, with the aim of ensuring publicity and traceability at this stage of the electoral process. Live streaming is available to citizens via the platform evideo.bg.

For the current elections, a new technological enhancement has also been introduced: automated reports every five minutes between 20:00 and 20:30 for all electoral districts, sent to the Ministry of e-Governance and the Central Election Commission, as well as 31 separate reports to regional election commissions. After 20:30, reporting intervals are extended to every 10 minutes.

The system is designed so that devices provide clear visibility of ballots and the completion of protocols. In the event of internet loss, recording continues offline and is uploaded later to servers for public access.

In previous elections, over 98% device connectivity was achieved, with the aim of improving on this result, the ministry added. The process is coordinated with the Commission for Personal Data Protection and is intended to monitor the work of polling station commissions without identifying citizens present.