site.btaSix Caretaker Ministers to Hold Working Meeting with CEC on Preparation of Upcoming Elections

Six caretaker ministers in charge of the ministries responsible for the organizational and technical preparation of the elections will hold a working meeting with the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday, the Government press centre said.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the Cabinet's proposals to the Commission to improve rules and procedures to ensure a transparent, democratic and well-organized vote in the early parliamentary elections on October 27, the release added. 

Last week, Innovation Minister Rosen Karadimov, in his capacity as coordinator of the organizational and technical preparation of the elections on the Government's side, sent a letter to the CEC with the proposed measures, coordinated with the responsible ministries.

The caretaker Cabinet proposed to expand the voting machines' authentication process by adding a software for flash drive parameterization and compliance. Also, the supply of the seals for the devices should be provided by an independent supplier other than the contractor for the machine voting contract. The Cabinet also recommended that the seal numbers should be part of the acceptance report for the machines between the CEC and the contractor who delivers the machines to the polling stations. 

Recommendations were also given for the provision of paper for the printing of the machine voting ballots with additional protection, which is supplied by the Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank Corp., as well as to continue with the established practice of the CEC to use a different specialized paper protection for machine voting for each individual vote.

Among the proposals that the caretaker ministers and the representatives of the CEC will discuss is also the availability of experts from the State administration with relevant professional experience to assist the process of checking devices before their dispatch.