The vote of a voter in Haskovo was declared invalid after he photographed the QR code on his ballot with his phone. The incident occurred at section 34, and the young man returned specifically from Sofia to exercise his right to vote.
According to Elitsa Voynikova, the voter explained that he was a programmer and decided to photograph the code out of curiosity. “The boy told us that he was a programmer and when he saw a QR code, he wanted to photograph it“, she told BNT.
The members of the section election commission noticed the photographing and seized the ballot. Following instructions from the Regional Election Commission, it should have been destroyed, and the voter was not given the opportunity to vote a second time.
Why is a repeat vote not allowed
The Chairperson of the Haskovo REC Ina Veskova explained that in the case of a filmed vote, a repeat vote is not allowed. “If the ballot is invalid due to a filmed vote, a repeat vote is not allowed”, she said.
The rule is also written in the instructions of the Central Election Commission. In the case of a shown or filmed vote, the ballot is not placed in the ballot box, it is declared invalid and destroyed. The voter does not receive a second ballot and is not allowed to vote again.
And other problems with machine voting
Several cases have been registered in Haskovo region in which voters pulled the card from the machine before hearing the sound signal. Their vote was counted, but the device did not print a control receipt. In these cases, voters were also not given the right to vote again, since after confirming the choice, it cannot be changed through a new vote.
As of 2:00 p.m., voter turnout in Haskovo region was nearly 19 percent. Voters were 11,000 more than the comparison indicated in the report. By the end of election day, no other serious problems had been reported in the region, BNT reported.
Sources: bntnews.bg