Voting for members of the Supreme Judicial Council from the professional quota of judges has ended. Ballot counting has begun in 30 polling sections across the country, and the results are expected to be announced by 11:00 p.m.
Judges must choose six of their representatives to serve on the ninth composition of the SJC from among 21 candidates. A total of 2,275 serving judges were eligible to vote. The vote was conducted using paper ballots.
Turnout Is Above the Required Threshold
As of 1:00 p.m., 1,214 judges had voted, representing a turnout of 53.36 percent. This is above the threshold of half of those eligible to vote, which is required for the election to be valid.
The Supreme Judicial Council announced that “at 6:00 p.m., all conditions were in place for the conclusion of voting and for the polling sections to begin counting the votes and reporting the results.” The counting is being conducted publicly through video recording and video surveillance in each section.
Results Must Be Announced by 11:00 p.m.
After the counting, the section commissions draw up protocols recording the number of voters, valid and invalid ballots, and the votes received by each candidate. Scanned copies of the protocols must be sent to the election commission by 9:00 p.m.
By 11:00 p.m., the chair of the election commission must rule on the validity of the election and announce the results for all candidates, as well as the names of the six elected SJC members. This is the deadline specified by the SJC in the information on the organization of the vote.
If the requirements for a valid election or for electing the required number of members are not met, the procedure provides for a new vote. In such a vote, the candidates with the most votes are considered elected, provided that the required turnout threshold has been reached.
The judges’ quota is part of the procedure for forming the new SJC. Before the judges’ election, prosecutors elected four of their representatives, while the vote of investigating magistrates is scheduled for November 21.
Sources: bnrnews.bg, bntnews.bg, bta.bg