The members of the section election commission (SIC), who allowed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev to vote only with a photo of his ID card in the vote for district mayor of the capital's "Slatina" district, will be punished. This was told to BTA by Polina Vitanova, chairman of the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) Stolichna.
We received a signal with an uploaded video showing Georg Georgiev voting after presenting his ID card only with a photo on his phone, Vitanova pointed out. This was confirmed after we spoke with the members of the (SEC). They will be issued with violation notices. The fine is between 20 leva and 200 leva, she added.
The Chairman of the MEC explained that in principle this is not a voter violation, since anyone can intentionally or out of ignorance attempt to vote even with a driver's license or international passport. This is a violation of the SEC, since they are aware of the rules, Vitanova said.
The decision of the MEC Stolichna states that an administrative violation of the Electoral Code (EC) has been established. It is subject to challenge before the Central Election Commission within three days of its publication.
The decision states that nowhere in the EC, nor elsewhere in the code, is the legislator allowed the voter to prove his identity by a photo of an identity document or in some electronic form. In this sense, the voter's identity is verified only by presenting the original identity card or (green) passport for those born before December 31, 1931.