Bulgarian Voter Lists Contain 700,000 Phantom Entries - Expert

Mihail Konstantinov, a Professor in Mathematics and a former Deputy Chairman of Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission, has cautioned about 700 000 phantom voters figuring on the electoral rolls. Photo by BGNES

Mihail Konstantinov, a Professor in Mathematics and a Deputy Chairman of Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in 2003, has said that voter lists contain around 700,000 phantom names.

To prove his point, the professor has explained that voter rolls contain a total of 6 800 000 names, while the National Statistical Institute has listed a total of 6,100,000 Bulgarians who are eligible to vote, which leaves a total of 700,000 fake entries.

According to Konstantinov, as cited by Bulgarian Sega daily, CEC could have purged the electoral votes through a legislative solution, but it is already too late for that.

The Professor says that he has been recommending active voters registration, a step that instantly removes phantom votes, for at least 16 years.

"I demonstrated the model, I calculated its cost, but did not make any difference. The proposal was rejected. Someone takes advantage from the situation, or they are just a bunch of incompetent people who are there to kill time. Or it is a combination of the two", Konstantinov states.

He says that there is no other way to purge lists of voterless votes but to introduce active registration.

"If we approve it next year, we will enjoy spick-and-span lists for the general elections in 2013", the Math Professor adds, urging the journalists to start a campaign about the matter and stir the MPs into action.

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