After the mass protests and the resignation of the government, the topic of changes in electoral legislation has again come to the fore.
"After the protest achieved its major goal, namely the resignation of the government, it absolutely naturally demanded that the next elections be fair. Also a fundamental demand, behind which young people, as well as all those hundreds of thousands who took to the squares of Bulgaria, will obviously insist until the end. The universal means of ensuring a fair vote is precisely machine voting, and in this sense the protesters are absolutely right", commented the leader of "Stand Up BG" Maya Manolova in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
Machine voting as a solution
According to her, given the short time until the elections, it is not realistic to make large-scale changes to the election rules, so the measure with the strongest effect should be applied – namely machine voting.
"Now the situation is not standard. We are truly in an unprecedented situation, in which civic energy has demanded fair elections, demanded fair electoral legislation, demanded machine voting. I am sure that the deputies will be unpleasantly surprised if they try to make a fuss, Manolova said on the air of Bulgaria ON AIR.
Comparison with previous elections
The leader of "Stand Up BG" recalled that the fairest elections in Bulgaria were those in July 2021, when voting was entirely machine-based.
Then the number of invalid ballots was many times lower, and there were practically no complaints about the way the elections were conducted.
"The machines completely ignore the manipulations that party representatives in the section election commissions are tempted to do. They do not touch party hands, as is commonly said, and people's votes are counted as they were cast," said Manolova.
She also expressed concern about attempts to impose scanning machines as an alternative, emphasizing that they also work with software and code, but do not eliminate paper ballots. Namely, paper, in her words, is the main tool for buying and controlling votes in recent decades.
Criticism of the inaction of the authorities
Her criticism of the inaction under the so-called "Anti-speculation" law, introduced in the summer, was particularly sharp.
According to Manolova, the result of this inaction is already visible – a sharp jump in the prices of basic food products.
"As a result of which we see that prices have skyrocketed and what is expected from January 1, according to the recognition of all - both the ruling and opposition, parliamentary parties – "a price apocalypse is expected," Manolova said.
She cited data on a significant increase in the price of oil, eggs, dairy products and cheese on an annual basis, emphasizing that this pressure is felt by all citizens, with the exception of high-paid MPs.
The increase in the price of water
Manolova also commented on the increase in the price of water in a number of cities, announced by the EWRC. According to her, the increase is unjustified, since since the beginning of the water reform, prices have increased many times, without any real improvement in the quality of the service or reduction in losses in the network.
She gave an example of the huge amounts of water that are lost annually – equivalent to the entire volume of the "Iskar" dam.
In conclusion, Manolova appealed to the Minister of Regional Development not to allow a new increase in the price of water in state-owned water and sewerage companies and reminded that a number of European countries have frozen or limited the prices of basic goods and services during periods of economic turmoil and entry into the Eurozone.