The past year ended with the largest protests in Bulgaria's recent history. People took to the streets with a clear signal that patience for political abuses, corruption and fraud is over. One of the main demands of the protests is the demand for fair elections. It comes against the backdrop of the Constitutional Court's decision on the outrageous manipulations of the last elections and the huge number of invalid ballots from the previous local elections. This unenviable picture is complemented by the excesses with the partial elections in Pazardzhik and the passivity of law enforcement agencies, as well as the shocking violations recorded in video surveillance. Voters' trust in the electoral process has seriously suffered. The loss of this trust is a verdict for Bulgarian democracy.
The political parties expressed their readiness for changes to the Electoral Code, and a new bill was also submitted. Earlier in the year, several bills were submitted and consolidated into one internally contradictory bill, which was adopted at first reading by the relevant committee. The subsequent public discussions showed that a large part of the proposals are unprotected and organizationally complex. Some of them offer technologies that have not been tested and analyzed, and may lead to negative results, further reducing trust in the process.
That is why, on behalf of the civil and expert organizations: Coalition for Fair Elections (COFE), Justice for Everyone, Active Policies and Civic Platform, we unite behind the truly important and necessary changes to the code that will ensure that the next elections are truly fair to the maximum extent. We present to your attention five demands for reforms in the electoral legislation that attack the most important problems with the organization and counting of the vote.
The five proposals developed in the attached document are as follows:
TRUTHFUL MACHINE VOTING
WORKING SECTIONAL ELECTION COMMISSIONS
REAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR VIOLATIONS
THE CEC TO BE A REAL GUARANTEE OF THE ELECTIONS
TRANSPARENCY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT BODIES
We call on political parties not to experiment with the electoral legislation, not to allow innovations without careful analysis and to support our proposals in order to respect the great desire of the Bulgarian people for fair elections. We call on all citizens to support these demands and to forward them to their representatives. We remain open to dialogue and discussion.