site.btaPlenum Discusses Voting Options for Judicial Council Elections

The Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday discussed voting options for the upcoming elections of SJC members. The Plenum holds that a new remote voting system should be built, because this would be the most convenient method for all and would be in keeping with current practices.

The problem is that such a system would not be possible to create by the day of the elections, July 21.

Another option is to use only paper ballots, which is the only voting method named in the Judicial Power Act. This, however, would inconvenience district court magistrates.

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev said efforts are being made to ensure that there is a choice on July 21 between remote electronic voting and voting by paper ballot. He called for a new audit of the remote voting system to see whether it can be aligned with the requirements, how quickly and at what cost. If the system cannot be upgraded, it will be necessary to consider how to address the situation, Georgiev said.

The minister urged magistrates to hold discussions within their community about the condition of the system, what is working and what is not, and what changes are needed. Then, he said, the magistrates and the Justice Ministry can work out a legislative initiative to address the matters on which the independent judicial system has reached a sufficient degree of consensus.