site.btaConstitutional Court Admits Five Cases Challenging Legality of Oct. 27 Parliamentary Elections

The Constitutional Court has admitted five cases, all challenging the legality of the October 27 parliamentary snap elections that determined the composition of the 51st National Assembly. The cases have been consolidated for a joint hearing, the Court reported on Tuesday.

The court admitted experts to ascertain whether the number of valid votes cast by paper ballots or via machine voting corresponds to the number recorded in the minutes of the respective polling station commission.

The expertise must also establish whether the number of valid votes cast by machine corresponds to the data in the memory of the specialized voting machines.

The experts must also establish whether the protocols of the precinct election commissions were drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the Electoral Code.

Another task is to establish whether, in 442 polling stations, the number of ballot papers recorded in the minutes as invalid corresponds to the number of invalid ballot papers submitted to the regional election commissions.

The deadline for the expertise is January 10, 2025.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) must within two weeks provide the reasons why the polling stations, for which there is no exception from the Electoral Code, have not implemented real-time video surveillance and video recording after the end of the election day during the counting of votes and the compilation of the minutes.

The CEC must within three weeks submit details on the changes made after the deadline specified in the Electoral Code to the composition of the precinct electoral commissions: the total number of changes, distribution by weeks, on whose proposal they were made, whether the original ratio of political parties and coalitions in the precinct electoral commission was maintained, on what factual/legal basis the change was made.