site.btaFirst Meeting of Citizens Board for Free and Transparent Elections

Sofia, August 27 (BTA) - The first meeting of the Citizens Board for Free and Transparent Elections was held in Sofia Wednesday.Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki also participated in the meeting. The Board includes NGOs with experience and expertise in the election process which were registered as observers in the previous elections for Bulgarian members of the European Parliament.

The methodology of determining election results at the election of members of the National Assembly published in the Election Code is wrong, Board member Prof. Mihail Konstantinov said at the meeting.

Last year the methodology was drawn up by the Central Election Commission and it featured two fundamental mistakes which, luckily, were not put into motion, Konstantinov added. These mistakes become effective only at a certain distribution of votes. Subsequently, one of the mistakes was eradicated but the second one was not and now the text of the law is quite profoundly wrong. Konstantinov suggested that one of the first things the Board should do is make recommendations in this respect. It will be too late if we wait for the methodology to
show its flaws and cause doubts in the election process, Konstantinov said.

All criticism and recommendations made by the Board will be considered by official institutions immediately, Bliznashki said.

The Board will hold its next meeting on September 1 (Monday) and will discuss electoral registers, polling districts and the information campaign.