"There are many tasks, many problems diagnosed by the CEC members during the hearing. We did not hear specific commitments, deadlines and measurable goals. Given the upcoming presidential elections in a few months, they will not have the opportunity to benefit from a long period of trust".
This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by Iva Lazarova - chairwoman of the CEC Public Council and executive director of the Institute for the Development of the Public Environment, regarding the new composition of the Commission, which took office yesterday. The first meeting of the new CEC will be today at 2 p.m.
"During the hearing of the already new Commission, we heard a lot on the topic of the professionalism of the election administration from them themselves. Some of the members do not have serious previous experience in the electoral sphere. But this, of course, does not automatically mean that they will not be able to do it. However, the question of what capacity the commission itself will build is becoming increasingly important, because in recent years we have seen a worrying trend that, for example, permanent expert structures are not being built at the CEC, which would preserve some knowledge and experience between individual elections, and too much depends on the specific composition of the CEC at a given moment. And the elections are too important a process for us to be able to rely solely on the individual experience of the members," she commented.
According to her, if the new composition of the CEC really wants to show change, there are several things it can do in its first month, without requiring either legal changes or an additional budget. Lazarova gave an example of this - all discussions during the meetings should be held with microphones turned on. Another issue is the publication of draft agendas early enough so that all interested parties can follow them, she added in the program "Pedi vzby".
"Regarding the working sessions of the commission - they are a bit like the "X-files". They are a topic that rarely enters the public debate, but while official sessions are talked about and a lot of attention is paid to them, in reality a large part of the decisions are shaped even before they reach a vote in the hall and the preparation of the decisions remains largely invisible to the public, and there is an obligation in the Electoral Code to have information, to make it clear what happens at these working sessions".
Media packages are also a topic that is rarely talked about, noted Iva Lazarova. And he explained:
"From 2021 alone until the last elections in April this year, the data shows us that nearly 2.7 million euros have been spent in the form of this state aid, and there are subscribed formations that, for example, fail to collect even as many votes as they had signatures in support of their registration to participate in the elections. And here this CEC can work on creating a public register for the upcoming election campaign, which would show in real time who receives the funds, which media outlets are contracted with, what service is provided and at what price. This is a step that does not require additional resources. This is information that the CEC possesses in each of the campaigns, because they control the spending of these funds".
During the hearing with the president, all members expressed a desire to work as a single body, sitting above political petty issues and disputes, reminded Iva Lazarova and emphasized, however, that in the past we have seen how the commission often protects narrow party interests rather than working as a single institution.
The Chairman of the CEC Public Council also emphasized the training of members of the section commissions:
"An important issue is when you put emphasis in your work on the training of CEC members, as a good start in 2026 is to really start work on creating such a training unit, and not just talk about the need for its creation. We will see. There is enough time, if the members of the commission work on the topic during the summer, to organize, for example, better training materials, to return to the form of longer trainings, in which the members of the Central Election Commission themselves also participate, to think about some kind of testing of the people who undergo these trainings, to create databases with people who have successfully passed such testing".
According to the Public Council of the CEC, there is not enough time to move towards a broad debate on the proposed electoral changes and there is no time to rebuild trust:
"We do not believe that there will be a time when upcoming changes to the Electoral Code can be discussed calmly, which would again be a problem and would appear to society as a step in which political parties simply want to seek a more favorable outcome for themselves, for example in the presidential elections".