Minister Georgi Sharkov: Our goal is 100% verification of the code of all voting machines

The Minister of Electronic Governance and coordinator for the organization of the elections in the caretaker cabinet of Andrey Gyurov, Georgi Sharkov, presented current information on the progress in the technical preparation of the upcoming vote. He stressed that the main priority of the government is to restore public trust through maximum transparency of machine voting and the video surveillance system.

For the first time, the Ministry of Electronic Governance sets itself the task of checking the software of all - 100% - of the installed voting machines, instead of only about 30% of the devices, as has been the practice so far. According to Minister Sharkov, full certification guarantees that each machine works in accordance with the approved standards and with the code generated by the Central Election Commission.

During an operational meeting of the Council of Ministers, Sharkov sent an invitation to all ministries to second an additional 60 technical experts to strengthen the MEU team. The invitation was accepted, and the organization for their inclusion in the preparation process is already underway.

On March 17, the Ministry published an updated "Methodology for verifying the compliance of voting machines". The document is available in the "News" section of the MEU website, and citizens and organizations can send their comments and suggestions until Friday, March 20. The aim is for the approach to be as transparent as possible and open to public feedback.

Minister Sharkov also pointed out that since the beginning of the week, six key electoral electronic services have been active on the "EGOV.BG" portal, which are free of charge and do not require an electronic signature. They are available in the "Civil Rights and Rule of Law" section and allow voters to quickly and conveniently arrange their status in the electoral lists.

Regarding video surveillance, Sharkov pointed out that the system will cover all sections in the country. Improvements are planned for more stable connectivity, preliminary technical inspection of the devices and centralized monitoring of their work with the help of regional coordinators to react in case of problems.

The logistical plan also includes clearly defined deadlines for the machines abroad - the devices for the sections abroad will be handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs early enough to ensure a peaceful preparation before the Easter holidays. In addition, from tomorrow, March 19, the Ministry of Interior opens a 24-hour telephone line for signals, and Minister Sharkov urged citizens to actively uphold their right to a fair vote.

"The preparation is going on schedule and in excellent coordination between the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the MEU, the Council of Ministers and the CEC. Our goal is minimum technical problems and maximum confidence in the results," he stressed.

Asked whether the 100 percent check of the code will cover each individual machine in the warehouse, the minister explained that along with the experts from the contractor "Siela Norma", which performs the installation, state officials will also be present. Immediately after installation and before packing the devices, through a specialized tool "Hash Extractor" will be checked whether the installed software fully matches the publicly generated hash code provided by the CEC.

In response to a clarifying question regarding the correct loading of the lists by multi-member districts, Sharkov pointed out that this check is embedded in the stage of preliminary parameterization of flash drives. He stressed that these carriers are encrypted and protected, and the focus of the MEU in the warehouses is precisely on the verification of the system code, which is critical for the security of the software configuration.

On the occasion of concerns from previous elections related to the quality of the paper for the receipts from machine voting, the minister announced that intensive functional tests are planned. One of the teams will simulate a full working cycle of the machines, printing over 500 receipts from a device to check the durability of the printers and their compatibility with the paper provided by the BNB printing house. "Our goal is to identify and report any problems during the preparation period, and not on election day. Clear instructions will be given for action in case of non-blocking technical defects, so that voting is not interrupted," Minister Georgi Sharkov assured in conclusion.