Electoral Body: Bulgaria's Vote Fully Legal despite Organizational Trouble

The first and the second round of Bulgaria's presidential and local elections were held in compliance with the law, according to Krasimira Medarova, Chair of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

In a Saturday interview for Darik radio, she confessed that the electoral process had been riddled with difficulties which led to "substantial problems in the processing of the protocols and the announcement of the results",   but nevertheless insisted that no serious irregularities had taken place.

The CEC Chair noted, however, that it was the courts and not CEC which had the final say on contested election results.

Medarova was adamant that she had not come across any of the allegedly flawed protocols from Sofia containing signatures of representatives of the Municipal Electoral Commission instead of the respective sectional electoral commissions.

Asked to comment on the unwarranted presence of two MPS of center-right ruling party GERB in Sofia's Universiada Hall where the Municipal Electoral Commission (MEC) was receiving ballot papers, she said that the facts established by MEC gave no grounds for a penalty.

Medarova asserted that the delayed announcement of the results of October 23's first round of elections did not constitute an infringement of the Election Code.

She said that there had been an option for announcing preliminary results on the basis of protocols of sectional electoral commissions, but the data would have carried no more weight than a forecast.

Medarova admitted that the informational campaign shedding light on the voting procedure had started way too late, but stressed that the problem was not only CEC's fault but also the Council of Ministers', because the government carried organizational responsibilities.

The CEC Chair noted in conclusion that Bulgaria needed a permanent electoral administration.

She also spoke in favor of giving publicity to CEC's work, saying that if it were up to her, the protocols of CEC's sessions would have been made available to the citizens and the media if the law provided for such an opportunity.

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