We insist that the Central Election Commission (CEC) reconsider the need to stamp the control receipts from the machine vote and take action to eliminate this requirement, the Public Council to the CEC announced. We believe that this additional procedure does not contribute to the security of the vote, but creates prerequisites for delaying the voting, difficulties in the work of the sectional election commissions and unnecessarily complicating the election process, the Public Council to the CEC added.
The Council reports that the control receipt from the machine vote is not identical to the paper ballot. It is generated and printed by the technical device, and machine voting also includes other control and protection mechanisms (such as specialized paper with additional protections supplied by the BNB printing house, QR code, hash code, machine device number, etc.) designed to guarantee the authenticity and accountability of the vote cast. In this sense, the mechanical transfer of the requirement to affix a stamp from paper to machine voting does not constitute an additional guarantee of security.
While the specific benefit of affixing a stamp remains questionable, it certainly creates not just a risk, but a real opportunity to reveal the secrecy of the vote. In previous elections, it became clear that due to the specifics of the paper and the font size, when affixing a stamp, a prerequisite is created for the marked vote to become visible to the members of the SIC, the Public Council of the CEC pointed out.
They added that this additional procedure could also lead to the possible unfolding of the receipt and the last-minute action with the receipt creates an unnecessary prerequisite for violating the secrecy of the vote.
At a meeting on October 20, the CEC adopted an amendment to the methodological instructions for the work of the sectional election commissions (SIC) for the presidential and vice-presidential elections. According to the adopted changes, SICs will be obliged to affix stamps on the receipts from machine voting.