site.btaCentral Election Commission Dismisses Ombudsman's Fears about Delayed Implementation of Remote Electronic Voting

Sofia, August 11 (BTA) - In an interview on Bulgarian National Radio Thursday, Central Election Commission (CEC) Spokesman Alexander Andreev dismissed National Ombudsman Maya Manolova's fears, expressed on Wednesday, that work on the implementation of remote electronic voting is falling behind schedule.

The CEC expects that the Election Code provisions on remote electronic voting will be applied at the European Parliament elections in 2019.

The amendments to the Code envisaging this option were adopted in May 2016 after a national referendum on the matter held two years ago. Under these clauses, a possibility for experimental remote electronic voting must be provided upon conduct of elections after January 1, 2018. Experimental remote electronic voting is to be conducted at three successively conducted elections, including by-elections. Until January 1, 2018, the CEC must carry out three simulations of remote electronic voting, with voting for fictitious parties, coalitions or candidates.

Andreev said that the CEC has taken the necessary steps so that a remote electronic voting simulation could take place before the end of 2017, as envisaged. Experimental remote electronic voting will be available at real elections in 2018, including at local by-elections.

The Spokesman said that the CEC has been working on the project since the beginning of this year jointly with the State e-Government Agency and there is no delay that could impede the implementation of the system within the timeframe set by the Election Code.

Computer expert Ivo Mirchev, who is an advocate of remote electronic voting, disagreed with Andreev on National Radio and argued that terms of reference for the system design are not yet available. According to Mirchev, almost nothing has been done about it. Moreover, the electronic identification project is between six months and one year behind schedule, he insisted. In his opinion, the only way to meet the timeframe is to adapt the Estonian remote electronic voting system. Mirchev said that Estonia has expressed readiness to make its system available to Bulgaria together with experts for its implementation. The advantage of this option is that it will come at no cost to this country.