site.btaParliamentary Forces, Civic Movements Call for Annulment of Oct. 27 Elections

Parliamentary forces in the 51st National Assembly and civic movements have called for annulment of the October 27 snap parliamentary elections. Some political groups are pushing for a full annulment, while others have called for only a partial annulment. Two parties have requested a recount of the ballots.

The Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) party have called for the election to be annulled in their entirety, citing "major manipulation and distortion of the vote involving state institutions". In a press release on Monday, MECh noted that There is Such a People (TISP) leader Slavi Trifonov called for a partial annulment shortly afterward, which, they argue, might enable Velichie to enter Parliament without affecting GERB or Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning, with whom Trifonov "appears to working just fine".

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Trifonov said that on the first day of the 51st National Assembly, the party will initiate a petition for referring the October 27 elections' results to the Constitutional Court for partial annulment. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Toshko Yordanov of TISP said that they hope to be ready with the petition on Wednesday. 

Vazrazhdane, the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF), and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) have called for a recount of the ballots.

"We call on the President to refer the election violations to the Constitutional Court," Valentin Tonchev, who ran for MP on ARF’s ticket, told reporters on Monday. "Our support will be firm for any initiative that seeks a recount of the ballots and a full annulment of the elections held in glaring violation before the eyes of the Bulgarian public. The democratic process on which our future is built has been brutally violated," he said.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms chairperson Dzhevdet Chakarov said that we are faced with an unprecedented situation. He added that the vote had been rigged in every way possible, noting that this is inadmissible. 

The CC-DB coalition said that it had decided to turn to the Constitutional Court for a comprehensive check of the October 27 election results in every single polling station. Based on this check, it should be decided whether there is need for new Members of Parliament, CC-DB co-leader Atanas Atanassov told a news conference here on Monday.

Commenting on the topic, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that "now, everyone is talking about partial annulment of the elections", questioning whether this would change the outcome. "If it is so, then I say yes, and I will have 69 MPs sign to annul the vote," he added.

Тhe civic movement BOEC requested through six institutions that the Constitutional Court be seized to annul the election results. Lawyer Metodi Lalov told BTA that complaints have been filed with the National Assembly, the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the two supreme courts, and the Prosecutor General, with backing from several MPs. Later in the day, Civic Initiative urged President Rumen Radev to seize the Court regarding electoral violations from the elections and to postpone convening the newly elected parliament.

The Election Code

The legitimacy of the elections may be contested before the Constitutional Court by a procedure established by law, according to Article 66 of the Bulgarian Constitution.

The Constitutional Court shall consider the petition and rule within two months of its receipt, the Election Code says. According to Article 305. (1), the candidates for MPs, the parties, the coalitions of parties and the representatives of the nomination committees who have registered candidates in the elections, may dispute the legitimacy of the elections of MPs or the election of an MP before one-fifth of all MPs, the President, the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative Court or the Prosecutor General within seven days after the public announcement of the election results by the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Within 15 days after the public announcement of the election results by CEC, the authorities referred above, acting on the received claim or on its own initiative, may approach the Constitutional Court with a reasoned petition to pronounce on the legitimacy of the elections of MPs or the election of an MP.

The petition does not suspend the CEC decision. If the elections of MPs are declared illegitimate, new parliamentary elections will be held no later than two months after the Constitutional Court delivers its judgement.