"The changes in the Electoral Code should not be implemented immediately". Assoc. Prof. Nataliya Kiselova, MP from the BSP-UNITED LEFT, stated this in an interview for the program “The Week“ on Darik Radio. When asked whether they are happening at 12 to 5, Kiselova indicated that this is precisely the most serious problem of the week, which will carry over into the next one, given the upcoming meetings of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs on Monday and Tuesday. “The position of our parliamentary group is that changes, whatever they are, even with the best intentions, should not be implemented immediately. The entry into force of the norms should be postponed“, said Kiselova. “My personal opinion is that at the moment, whatever change is made, it would create an expectation that the results will be immediately challenged before the Constitutional Court“, commented Kiselova and added that this is precisely why the changes that are currently being made should not be applicable. She insisted that their entry into force should be postponed.
“This issue has been discussed several times at a meeting of the parliamentary group – a large part of our voters want to vote on paper, others selflessly convince us that it should be by machines“, she also commented. Assoc. Prof. Kiselova recalled that the introduction of machine voting took place with the Electoral Code adopted in 2014, and the norms had a suspensive effect. She recalled that they were made by the BSP and that several elections had been held in which voting was first experimental, and then in individual sections the result of the machine vote was taken into account.
When asked whether we can trust the results of the paper ballot, Kiselova said that the most important thing in this process are the people we trust in the section election commissions.
Kiselova was categorical that there is no time to introduce the so-called scanning machines for these elections. “Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev also stated that such an expense is not foreseen in the state budget, and I am also not convinced that the members of the section commissions will be able to cope“, she added.
Kiselova was categorical that when it comes to changes in electoral legislation, between their creation and their implementation, there should be at least one year, as is the good practice of the Venice Commission. “Even if this solves all our problems - it seems to me that there should be no rush and that is why we propose postponing the entry into force of these provisions“, the lawyer added. “Every parliamentary group that will vote for the changes must be aware of what is ahead, not only for its own interest, but also for the political climate in general, which must certainly improve, not worsen“, she further commented.
When asked what is ahead, Assoc. Prof. Kiselova replied: “Next week we have two certain things ahead of us – one is consultations with the parliamentary groups in connection with the appointment of the caretaker prime minister and the formation of a caretaker government, and the third step is setting a date for the parliamentary elections”.