Party “Velichie” Calls for Machine Voting with Guarantees of Transparency

The consultations of the political party 'Velichie' with the head of state have concluded. After the meeting on December 19, the party’s leader, Ivelin Mihaylov, said that Velichie supports machine voting, but only if there are genuine guarantees of transparency.

“Machine voting can have a future only if it also produces a paper slip from a printer, which is then counted, so that it can be verified that the vote was indeed cast in that way,” Mihaylov said.

According to him, a key problem remains the lack of a sufficient number of independent members on the polling station commissions, which creates conditions for abuse. “When someone has bought the entire polling station electoral commission, the machine is simply used as a printer,” he added.

The party said it supports 100% machine voting, but only on condition that there is a paper audit trail. “With the printing of a paper slip and the provision of at least 13,000 members of polling station electoral commissions whom we are confident will genuinely carry out oversight.”

Mihaylov said that civil society should also be given the opportunity to take part in the commissions, “in order to guarantee the vote not only for parties represented in the National Assembly, but also for those outside it”.

Ivelin Mihaylov described the meeting with the President as constructive.

“We are satisfied. There is a position and a clear perspective on the issues, and we hope that at least one institution will actually deliver work in which people can see results, rather than just talk,” he said.

No specific date for early elections was discussed. According to Mihaylov, the vote should be held in March or April, in order to allow sufficient time for preparation, including for parties outside parliament.

The leader of Velichie also criticised the proposed amendments to the Electoral Code. He said that, if they are adopted in the form approved at first reading, this would amount to an “execution of democracy”.