The parliamentary committee on constitutional and legal affairs held a session for the second reading of the bill for amendments to the Electoral Code, which lasted over thirteen hours.
The MPs rejected the proposal of “BSP-United Left” for the introduction of optical devices for scanning ballots from January 1, 2027. The law should come into force upon its publication in the “State Gazette”.
The proposal of GERB-SDS was adopted, in case it is impossible to provide optical devices for the first parliamentary elections, the elections should be held according to the old code. The commission also supported the proposal of “There is such a people” to provide optical devices within one month of the law coming into force.
The changes in the Electoral Code are mainly related to the introduction of optical devices for scanning ballots, the electoral lists to be drawn up on the basis of the data of the National Statistical Institute for the results of the last census, as well as in countries outside the European Union to form up to 20 sections outside the diplomatic and consular missions.
The MPs discussed the proposals, and the vote began after midnight. Nadezhda Yordanova (PP-DB) commented on the lack of arguments in the debate and added that the majority sometimes listens to the opposition with annoyance. “Revival” stated that the working group is anonymous and left the meeting in protest.
At the second reading, the proposals of the working group were mainly adopted, as well as some editorial proposals. It was adopted that the devices and their software should be state-owned, managed by “Information Service” AD, and the CEC should certify compliance. The draft amendments are to be discussed in the plenary hall.