site.btaElection Code Amended on First Reading, "None of the Above" Choice to Count towards Majoritarian Election Results

Election Code Amended on First Reading, "None of the Above" Choice to Count towards Majoritarian Election Results

Sofia, October 21 (BTA) - Parliament scrapped the restriction of 35 voting sections per country in the EU member states, allowed a second ballot box in voting sections abroad, and decided that the "none of the above" choice will count towards the results only in majoritarian elections.

Parliament approved on first reading three bills amending the Election Code, submitted by Krassimir Velchev (GERB), Dimiter Delchev (Reformist Bloc) and Nayden Zelenogorski (Reformist Bloc). Nine bills were rejected.

Bulgaria is holding presidential elections on November 6.

A motion against having a "none of the above" box introduced by BSP-Left Bulgaria and independent MPs Velizar Enchev and Georgi Kadiev was turned down.

ABV's motion that the maximum number of voting sections abroad be set at 55 was also scrapped.

Parliament voted 108-34, with 10 abstentions, to approve Dimiter Delchev's bill which lifts the cap of 35 voting sections only for the EU countries.

Krassimir Velchev's proposal that the Central Election Commission can give permission for more than one ballot box in voting sections abroad was approved 108-35, with 18 abstentions.

Voting 110-36, with eight abstentions, Parliament approved a motion made by Zelenogorski and MPs of GERB and the Patriotic Front that the "none of the above" choice should count towards the result in majoritarian elections for mayors and for President and Vice President.

Lyutvi Mestan, an independent MP and DOST leader, commented that a party's problems cannot be solved through anti-constitutional provisions in the Election Code. He recalled that the number of voting sections abroad was restricted on a proposal of the Patriotic Front, which is part of the government coalition.

Tuncher Kurdjaliev (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) asked the power holders to provide signatures for a petition to the Constitutional Court to pronounce on the Election Code provisions.

Yanaki Stoilov (BSP-Left Bulgaria) called Friday's debate "squaring the ruling political triangle" and noted that this is an unprecedented change in the election rules such a short time before the elections. The "none of the above" choice will not be factored in in parliamentary and municipal councillor elections, he said, asking: "Why? Do the smaller parties in Parliament hope to continue existing thanks to such election gimmicks?" Stoilov commented: "If tension escalates to a point where people like nothing, it will turn out that they will be governed by nothing."

Danail Kirilov (GERB) said the protest vote would show how many Bulgarians are negative about all lists. It is normal for the opposition to be watchful, but it is not normal to resort to manipulation during the election campaign, he said. He cited a precedent in 2009 when the Election Code was amended before the European Parliament elections to specify when a MEP's term begins. The revisions were intended to make sure that a foreign minister can become an MEP straight away, he said.

Ivailo Kalfin was elected an MEP of the Bulgarian Socialist Party at a time when he was deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Kornelia Ninova, floor leader of BSP-Left Bulgaria, said it was one thing to change the beginning of a term and quite another to revise the election rules. She said changing the Election Code shortly before the presidential elections was "outrageous", and blamed the "chaos in the rules" on the power holders and their horse-trading for power. "Parliament is at the bottom of all approval ratings, and now you are pushing it further down," she said.

The Legal Affairs Committee met after the vote to collate the proposals. The bill will be up for adoption next week.