site.btaGERB Table Draft Amendments to Election Code, Ombdusman Approaches Constitutional Court about Cap on Voting Sections Abroad

GERB Table Draft Amendments to Election Code, Ombdusman Approaches Constitutional Court about Cap on Voting Sections Abroad

Sofia, October 17 (BTA) - GERB propose that the limit of 35 voting sections per country be scrapped only in respect of EU Member States, National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee Chairman Danail Kirilov MP of GERB said here on Monday after his parliamentary group submitted draft amendments to the Election Code.

The proposed revisions have been discussed with the Prime Minister.

Kirilov also said that GERB propose making it legally possible, subject to a decision of the Central Election Commission, to use multiple ballot boxes in any one section. In his opinion, voters will thus be able to vote comfortably in case some of the sections abroad get overcrowded on polling day.

GERB propose that the "None Of The Above" square marked in all types of elections should count as a valid vote and should be taken into consideration when the election result is determined. The party is convinced that this option is necessary, once voting is compulsory.

In a second round, the ballot will list two names and a "None Of The Above" square, but only the valid ballots cast for the actual candidates will be counted, Kirilov explained.

In a related development, Bulgaria's National Ombudsman Maya Manolova Monday approached the Constitutional Court, challenging two provisions of the Election Code imposing limitations on the number of voting sections abroad.

Manolova commented to journalists that the effective legal framework, on the one hand, makes mandatory the establishing of a voting section in any place where not fewer than 60 voters have applied for this but, on the other hand, limits the total number of sections that can be established in any single State to 35.

"These provisions deprive thousands of people of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. This is arbitrary administrative treatment and a violation of the principles of the law-governed State," Manolova commented.

She argued that it is not clear how it was decided which 35 voting sections in the UK would be established. Manolova expects a quick response by the Constitutional Court to her appeal.