Acting Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov met with the entire Central Election Commission to discuss preparations for the upcoming elections.
Deputy Chair of the CEC Rositsa Mateva emphasized in "Speak Now" on the coordinated decisions on election papers, materials and standardized voting screens, which will ensure equal conditions for voting throughout the country.
She emphasized that the Prime Minister met with the entire commission, not just representatives.
According to her, the CEC and the Council of Ministers must coordinately adopt decisions on election papers and materials for the sectional election commissions:
„And on the very first day that the decree was issued to schedule elections, we sent the draft of these decisions and invited the Prime Minister to come to a meeting at the Central Election Commission with ministers that he appointed to discuss the joint organization of the elections.“
One of the key issues is the provision of standardized voting screens.
„After December 2022, when the change was made to the election code, with each government, with each scheduled election, we We have proposed to ensure, and in a centralized manner, the production or delivery of the screens, so that they are the same throughout the country and to stop the use of these dark rooms with curtains that allow the voter to do whatever they want inside, which is prohibited by the Electoral Code and records the way they voted.“
Regarding financing and delivery deadlines, Mateva pointed out that the Prime Minister said that he would do everything possible.
“There is time, because in this case, according to paragraph 3 of the Electoral Code, the deadlines under the Public Procurement Act can be shortened. We use this norm to be able to shorten the deadlines in which we conduct public procurement, so the Council of Ministers can do this too, and it can do this under the commitment to do everything possible to ensure that the screens, which have been provided for since, as I said, the 22nd year of the Electoral Code, are provided for this time. We have set approximate dimensions of 60 to 80 cm in height, so that they cover the voter's body, but are clearly visible if they take other actions.“
From her words, it became clear that if she takes a picture with her phone, the election commission can declare the ballot wrong and give her the opportunity to vote once more, no more.
Another important aspect is the training of the sectional election commissions.
„Nobody can give guarantees, and 100%. Even less the central election commission, because first the training of the sectional election commissions is organized by the regional election commissions. The central election commission conducts training and training for the regional election commissions.“