The Public Council to the Central Election Commission (CEC) says the stamp on control receipts from voting machines should be dropped. It called on the CEC to review whether the rule is needed and to take the steps to scrap it.
On Tuesday, 20 October, the CEC changed its guidelines and ordered members of the section election commissions (SECs) to stamp the receipts in the election for president and vice president. The first version of the guidelines did not require a stamp.
Where it began: Election commission restores stamp on machine-vote receipts
"We believe this extra step does not add to the security of the vote, but it creates conditions for slower voting," the council said. It added that the stamp also makes the work of the SECs harder and complicates the election for no reason.
The council said a control receipt is not like a paper ballot, because the machine itself generates and prints it. A machine vote is also protected in other ways: special paper with extra security features from the Bulgarian National Bank's printing works, a QR code, a hash code, the machine's number and more. The council said these make the vote genuine and accountable.
Its members therefore think the stamp rule was carried over mechanically from paper voting to machine voting and gives no extra guarantee. They say its benefit is doubtful.
At earlier elections, the paper and font size meant the stamp left a mark, and the marked vote became visible to SEC members. The receipt can also be unfolded during the procedure. This "certainly creates not just a risk, but a real possibility that the secrecy of the vote is revealed," the council said.