Bulgaria’s PM: The Decision to Stop the Machines was taken in Violation of the Election Code

"The Central Election Commission's decision was taken in violation of the Election Code". This was stated by Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov in a statement in front of journalists.

He made serious criticisms of the CEC's decision to stop machine voting.

"Today is a day of reflection where we have to decide who we are going to vote for, instead we have to decide again how we are going to vote – by machines or only with paper. This is important because in the last local elections over 650,000 ballots were declared invalid. The ballots from the machines cannot become invalid," Denkov said.

"The deadline for the certification of the machines of the current vote is today at 17:00 p.m. Yesterday the CEC banned the voting by machines. This decision was based only on a report by the State Agency for National Security (SANS), in which observations made in a controlled environment were interpreted manipulatively and suggestions were made, that someone could manipulate the machine vote. These suggestions have no basis," Denkov said.

"Machines are currently playing the role of printers, it is enough to look at the printed receipt to be sure of the vote. The videos and photos in the SANS report are part of a routine procedure by which the report is prepared at the Ministry of e-Government. Within the statutory deadline, the responsible persons and experts were adamant that the machines could be used in the elections tomorrow. The SANS report is in a format that does not comply with legal requirements. It does not have the attributes required by the Classified Information Protection Act. One gets the impression that he is deliberately asking for the requirement for qualified information so that the report can be distributed as quickly as possible, without checking the facts, and thus achieve the manipulative goals before election day. The CEC was mistaken that the machines left the warehouses without their order. The message to the Ministry of Internal Affairs was published today that the CEC is sending two letters - to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Main Directorate 'Gendarmerie' - authorizing the loading of the machines. The CEC misled the public that the decision to certify the conformity of the machines was issued only by the Deputy Minister of e-Government. It was also signed by the chairman of the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology and the chairman of the Board of Standardization," said Denkov.

According to him, everything was done at the last minute, so that there would be no time for a reaction from the other institutions - such as the Supreme Court, which explained that it would consider the case on Monday, after the election day, at the earliest.

"I appeal to the CEC - you have every reason to reconsider your decision and cancel your order by restoring machine voting," said the prime minister.

The Ministry of the Interior was ready to deliver the machines to the voting sections.

"Due to the provided manipulative report with the signature of SANS Vice-Chairman Denyo Denev, the Council of Ministers will vote on his resignation as soon as it receives the proposal for this from the SANS Chairman, as required by law," said the Prime Minister.

"I will not show the SANS report, I will not spread a single manipulation", the Prime Minister also said.

He urged voters to go and vote tomorrow.

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