The proposal for the Ministry of Interior to participate in the certification of voting machine software aims to ensure a "two-stage verification", former Deputy Minister of Electronic Governance Blagovest Kirilov explained to the Bulgarian National Radio.
The proposal of "Progressive Bulgaria" passed the first reading with the changes to the Electoral Code voted on in the plenary hall.
Blagovest Kirilov recalls that in previous elections, the Ministry of Interior has participated in working groups created to guarantee the cybersecurity of the elections.
"That is, we are simply institutionalizing this in a different way and it is better for everything that concerns the Electoral Code to be in the Electoral Code, rather than creating additional working groups, commissions and everything that we will then attack first, and secondly, it is much more effective if it is clearly spelled out as a sequence in a law", he commented.
Over the years, interior ministers, who are also deputy prime ministers, have also been responsible for the elections, Blagovest Kirilov reminded.
"I think it is right for them to carry out a two-stage verification of certain steps, especially in terms of what is actually sought - to guarantee that there is no external or internal interference that could change the vote. We are mainly talking about cybersecurity of the systems. Neither the Ministry of Interior wrote this system, nor did the Ministry of Interior manage it, that is, they were not given the system. "If they are given the system to manage, that is another matter," the former deputy minister said.
Days before the parliament's decision, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev noted that the Ministry of Interior has another resource, different from that of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation, for a more complete check.
"As with the software of the machines, so with the counting software," he added.
Informants admitted that in previous years the issue of the vote counting software has always been tossed around between the institutions and the election administration.
During the first reading debates last week, GERB expressed reservations about the new role of the Ministry of Interior for the machines.
Deputies from "Democratic Bulgaria" said that this role should be discussed between the first and second readings.