Parliament reinstated use of paper ballot as an option for voting in polling stations with more than 300 registered voters

With 124 votes in favour, Parliament on December 1 at first reading, approved changes to the Electoral Code, according to which voters in polling stations with more than 300 registered voters can either choose to vote by paper ballot or machine. The use of paper ballots alongside machine voting was supported by GERB-UDF, MRF and BSP.

With a motion by MRF, added during the debate, again supported by the same three parties, machine voting will be abolished altogether and the current touch-screen machines will be replaced by scanning ballot papers.

This will happen at the earliest at the local government elections next year.

If the supplementary texts to this decision, included at the end of the law in transitional and final provisions, are not adopted and the machines that the MRF has wanted since the beginning of the introduction of machine voting are abolished, then only paper voting will remain.

The debate in chamber continues.