site.btaElection Consultations: GERB Ready to Amend Election Code to Enable COVID Patients to Vote, President Urges them to Consider Wider Options

Election Consultations: GERB Ready to Amend Election Code to Enable COVID Patients to Vote, President Urges them to Consider Wider Options

Sofia, January 12 (BTA) - At a Tuesday meeting which is part of the President consultations before setting a date for the parliamentary elections this spring, the ruling GERB party said they are ready to amend the Election Code to enable quarantined and hospitalized COVID patients to vote but are not going to make other changes in the election legislation. President Rumen Radev urged them to consider wider options, including mail-in voting, which the ruling party considers "an exotic idea".

On Tuesday Radev is holding consultations with the parliamentary parties. In the last few days he met with representatives of the health authorities, the election administration, the extraparliamentary political parties and organizations of expatriate Bulgarians.

At the start of the meeting, the President noted that the consultations aim to reach a joint decision, a consensus among the institutions, the political parties, the whole society and Bulgarians abroad so as to guarantee their health, every Bulgarian's right to vote, fair and transparent elections, and above all to raise confidence in the upcoming elections.

Radev stressed that the presence of representatives of the ruling party at the meeting was extremely important for boosting trust in the elections with clear positions and a quest for working solutions. He added that the legitimacy of the next parliament hinges on this trust and on voter turnout.

GERB has drafted legislation on voting during state of emergency

GERB Floor Leader Daniela Daritkova said they have drafted legislation concerning the Act on the Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency, which was declared on March 13, 2020. It would allow all quarantined patients to vote in mobile voting sections, while hospitalized patients would have access to ballot boxes with the help of the attending health workers by a decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

"This bill allows CEC to take all the steps needed to guarantee the safe conduct of the elections for the rest of the people involved in the process," said Daritkova.

"Exotic ideas"

Daritkova was adamant that this is GERB's only intention for a legislative revision, which they believe will address most specifically the expectations to guarantee the public's health during the elections. "We have no intention to further amend the Election Code in line with some of the exotic suggestions made to the President," she said.

The President's comments made it clear that Daritkova was referring to a proposal by the extraparliamentary right-wing Democratic Bulgaria coalition for an Election Code amendment introducing postal voting.

Radev urged that the rights of two million Bulgarians abroad should also be taken into account. "The proposal for mail-in voting should not be dismissed, you call this exotic ideas but it is a matter of political responsibility to guarantee each Bulgarian's constitutional right to vote wherever they are," said Radev, who called for considering wider options where constitutional rights are concerned.

Radev stressed that no proposal addresses how the Bulgarians who are quarantined abroad will vote, and urged that not a single option be dismissed. There is enough time and both the executive and CEC have proved they can act and make quick decisions.

The President also commented that the health-related measures may be in conflict with the transparency of the elections.

The President and the Vice President also raised issues including video monitoring, machine voting and the active registration of quarantined people.

In a Facebook post, Iskren Vesselinov, VMRO party deputy leader and co-floor leader of the power-sharing United Patriots, wrote that they "will not allow" postal voting. Behind the facade of protecting the rights of "our fellow country people", he sees a new attempt to attack the Election Code after the United Patriots managed in 2015 to limit the number of voting sections in Turkey and thus curb Erdogan's influence on Bulgarian politics.

The nationalist United Patriots coalition refused to participate in the President's consultations.

GERB: Attempts to erode trust in the election process

Parliament Chair Tsveta Karayancheva warned Radev about the danger of attempts to cast doubts about the results of elections before they are held, and blamed him for adding to the erosion of trust in the election process.

She said that in recent months the public was being made to believe that the elections will be manipulated, the process will be compromised and the vote will be rigged. This leads to distrust in the election process, erodes the reputation of the institutions and reduces voter turnout.

Karayancheva said: "Regrettably, Mr President, you have joined this narrative and in the last few months we are witnessing a concerted effort to undermine the Bulgarians' trust in the election process."

Karayancheva also said that in the last few days Radev allowed "political figures which will not have sociologically significant - or any - representation in Parliament" to become the mouthpiece of claims that the upcoming elections can be declared manipulated in advance. "This is very dangerous because people who have not participated in elections and are not familiar with the election process are allowed to make insinuations," she said.

The Parliament leader was apparently referring to the President's meeting with extraparliamentary parties over the weekend.

Karayancheva added that "elections in Bulgaria are not organized by GERB but by interacting institutions: the Central Election Commission (CEC), the Council of Ministers, local government, the parties, NGOs, the Bulgarian citizens who are members of the section election commissions, the people who go to the polls". This mechanism must be upheld.

Deputy PM Tomislav Donchev: A date should be set for the elections the soonest possible

"I cannot speak on behalf of CEC but I am familiar with the commitments of the various state authorities. The sooner you set a firm date for the elections, the better they will be organized," Donchev told the President.

"I suppose you are aware that there are actions which start when the date is known," said Donchev.

Radev replied that he would heed this call and would set a date even before the deadline enshrined in the Constitution.

The Constitution allows the President to set any date for elections in the two months beginning March 28. He has said on a number of occasions that the first possible date was also his first choice but did not rule out a later date in order to ensure fair and safe elections. The decree setting a date for the elections must be issued two months before Election Day.

The President called the meeting constructive and an important step towards boosting public confidence in the elections. LN/DD