site.btaParliament Supports Electronic Voting

Parliament Supports Electronic Voting

Sofia, January 21 (BTA) - The National Assembly adopted a resolution, whereby it supported the possibility for electronic voting during elections and referendums given there are legal guarantees for secrecy of the vote, civic control of the election process and security of the information systems.

Participating in the vote were 192 MPs, of whom 136 voted in favour and 56 - against. The decision was backed by the MPs from GERB, the Reformist Bloc (RB), ABV, the Bulgarian Democratic Centre (BDC) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The national representatives of BSP-Left Bulgaria, the Patriotic Front and Ataka voted against.

By February 29, the National Assembly Legal Committee should discuss all new bills, related to the Election Code, including ones envisaging the introduction of remote electronic voting. The Committee should consider and analyse all possibilities and procedures for e-voting laid down in the EU legislation. The Committee should draft a report for the second reading of the draft election codes, adopted on first reading, by the end of April 2016.

According to the RB, the electronic voting, being a more modern voting option, will increase turnout and reduce the number of invalid ballot papers. Peter Slavov said that introduction of electronic voting will take at least one year. There will be pilot projects as well. Radan Kanev said he understands all fears expressed but nothing could be more important than the fact that one third of Bulgarians are living abroad and their number is on the rise.

ABV supports electronic voting because it will reduce manipulations in the sector and save money. Mariana Todorova said e-voting is not only for the sake of the Bulgarians abroad: it will also motivate young people to vote and facilitate the disabled.

BDC supports electronic voting, said Stefan Kenov. One of the big problems is what happens in the polling stations: even if there are no manipulations, there are many incompetent people and many irregularities are admitted.

GERB is in favour of electronic voting but at strict compliance with the legislative provisions for non-admission of rigging of the election process, GERB Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said.  He noted that e-voting will be introduced, when there are legal guarantees, civic control and security of information technologies. In his opinion, the Public Procurement Act and the Labour Code are much more important than the current debates on the decision for e-voting.

MRF cannot support remote e-voting until firm guarantees about the fairness and secrecy of elections are provided, MRF Co-Floor Leader Chetin Kazak said. Kazak's party nevertheless supported the resolution in Parliament.

BSP-Left Bulgaria is against because the secrecy of the vote is not guaranteed. According to Socialist Leader Mihail Mikov, e-voting will increase the chance for manipulations. Parallels are often drawn between electronic banking and e-voting. While in the former case the idea is to identify the entity (the client), in the latter case he/she should remain anonymous. This is where the big problem with the secrecy of the vote comes from, Mikov concluded.

The Patriotic Front is against e-voting because it entails a risk of failing the election process due to possible attacks against the information systems. There is also a risk of abuses and manipulations. Valeri Simeonov said e-voting will not allow vote recount. Krassimir Karakachanov described the idea of e-voting as populist. "Nobody is thinking about Bulgaria's national security. How do you think Turkey will participate in Bulgarian elections," he commented.

Ataka is against because there are no guarantees against abuses, said Nikolai Alexandrov. In his opinion, it is much better to promote machine voting.