After the resignation of the government, the natural development is to hear the will of the people and lead to new elections. This is what they write in their position from "Save Sofia", quoted by novini.bg.
Here is what else the party announces:
The current National Assembly has exhausted its legitimacy and has no credibility.
But holding elections in the current manner and on the principle of “Bai Ganyo makes elections” can only reproduce the current model.
If the ruling party is allowed to organize the elections as they have done so far, we will once again witness mass vote buying as in Pazardzhik or black jeeps of security companies driving around like in the early elections in the "Iskar" district of Sofia.
GERB in Sofia and "New Beginning" in Pazardzhik they showed us how they imagine elections to be held. Maybe that's why they were so cocky after their resignation and only Ima such people realized that they would not be able to benefit from the elections organized by the big State.
Therefore, "Save Sofia" insists in the remaining time of this National Assembly that it not waste time on petty issues, but to adopt the necessary changes in the electoral legislation that would allow fair elections and stimulate voter turnout. And the protest energy should force them to do this.
"Save Sofia" proposes a package of changes to the Electoral Code, which there is still time to adopt:
- First of all, we insist on the return of fully machine voting, as well as opportunities for electronic voting. The examples of added ballots and unreported preferences are numerous enough to allow them to continue. It is also not adequate to have the possibility of voting from abroad, but not to have the possibility of voting from another city in the country. Possible alternatives to fully machine voting are machine counting of paper ballots or counting in counting centers with increased publicity, other than sectional election commissions. This will reduce the possibilities for manipulating the vote after it has been cast. If paper voting is retained, the protocols must be simplified to prevent intentional or unintentional errors, as well as to strengthen the possibilities for everyone to request a recount of a certain part of the ballots.
- Secondly, we propose strengthening preferential voting so that individuals and the will of voters can have a greater role, rather than party headquarters. For example, it would be appropriate to adopt mandatory preferential voting or even ordering the lists only on the basis of preference. An additional measure related to preferential voting would be that the names on the lists should not be arranged by party, but alphabetically or randomly. This would reduce possible abuses by tracking the vote through the use of preferences.
- Thirdly, we also insist on radical changes in the work of the sectional election commissions. The replacement of members at the last minute should be prohibited, except in exceptional circumstances. We also propose that the specific commission to which a given member will be assigned should be determined randomly on election day or the night before. The payment of the SIC members should be tied to the established violations of the commission, and much more severe sanctions should be provided for violations on their part. A significantly larger range of acts related to the election process should be criminalized as crimes under the Criminal Code. The counting of votes in the electoral rolls should be done entirely electronically, as should the change of the place of voting, regardless of the reason for this.
We believe that the proposed changes will make the elections more fair and conscious, and this will allow them to truly reflect the will and desire of the people, and not of the party and oligarchic headquarters. The willingness or unwillingness of the deputies to introduce the changes will be a test of their true positions, and the protest energy should not stop until a truly fair electoral process is ensured. We do not need more of the same.