The Central Election Commission (CEC) has publicly generated the hash code for the software on the voting machines that will be used in the 25 October presidential and vice-presidential elections. The hash code is a checksum that the machines will print on every control receipt.

This story follows our earlier report on the demo version of machine voting, in which CEC spokeswoman Stoyanka Balova-Tsvetkova said the machines will not print a ballot, only a control receipt.

The code was generated in a controlled environment provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation. Afterwards, in the ministry's "Parter" hall, CEC and ministry officials showed journalists a machine that printed a receipt with the finished code.

"The technical procedure has been completed successfully. The result of the procedure, the so-called hash code, is a unique digital fingerprint. It will be written on the control receipts printed by the machines," said innovation and digital transformation minister Ivan Vasilev. The ministry says the way the code is built guarantees that the software is authentic.

Vasilev said openness means transparency, and transparency builds trust in the election process. The ministry wants the vote to be predictable, transparent and traceable, he added.

"A lawful, trusted build of the software and generation of the hash code has taken place," said CEC chair Georgi Horozov. He said everything was done in full compliance with the Electoral Code, within the legal deadlines, openly and transparently.

The hash code will be published on the CEC and ministry websites. On election day it will also be displayed at every polling station, where each voter can compare it with the digits on their receipt.

Under the latest changes to the Electoral Code, machine voting is mandatory at polling stations with more than 300 people on the voter list, BTA reported. Bulgaria has 9,311 such stations, and about 2,000 of them, those with more than 780 voters on the list, will have two machines each.

Abroad, people will vote by machine at 242 polling stations, 38 of them with two machines each. CEC spokeswoman Stoyanka Balova said 280 machines are planned for the first round abroad.