Citizens gathered for a protest at "Independence" Square, demanding that the upcoming parliamentary elections be held with 100% machine voting. The demonstration was organized by "Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria". According to the PP-DB, the ruling party aims to introduce voting with optical scanners, which "leaves the door open for abuses".
„We will continue to insist on 100% machine voting, because this is the surest way to prevent electoral manipulations, or at least to minimize them. We insist that the scanners not be accepted, because this would mean either 100% paper, or vote-buying schemes to be preserved. The electoral code is currently completely crippled by GERB and “DPS-New Beginning”, said the co-chairman of “Yes, Bulgaria“ Bozhidar Bozhanov.
“Thousands are already behind us and want the same - 100% machine voting. The protests will continue as long as they can influence the government. The people here are the real power and we rely on them,” added the co-chair of "Yes, Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev.
„Vazrazhdane“ also organized a protest in front of the parliament. It is against some of the proposals for reshaping the election rules, specifically - against the introduction of scanning devices for counting votes.
A little later, the two protests merged. There was a strong police presence in the Triangle of Power, and traffic in the area was completely blocked. At 19:40, the end of the demonstrations was announced.
