OSCE Accuses Bulgaria's Electoral Body of Inefficiency

Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is incapable of making decisions on critical issues in a timely or efficient manner, according to the observer mission of the OSCE.

The observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe point out the problems surrounding the processing and tabulation of the results of the first round of the presidential and local elections held on October 23.

OSCE observers also draw attention to the widespread allegations of vote-buying and undue influence over voters at both rounds of the "2 in 1" vote.

The observer mission specifies that Bulgarian authorities initiated 106 investigations into suspected vote-buying related to the first round.

"As before the first round, candidates were able to campaign freely and without undue restrictions. Public trust in democratic institutions is essential. It is therefore important to address shortcomings such as persistent allegations of vote buying. This should be properly investigated and long-standing recommendations should also be considered," saysVadim Zhdanovich, the Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission.

According to the OSCE representatives, the processing of the October 23 election results created huge problems in Sofia, where some protocols of sectional electoral commissions were not submitted to the municipal electoral commission and ballot bags and sensitive election papers were left unattended and were handed to unauthorized persons.

The observers highlight that some of the results of the local elections were published as late as five days after election day.

OSCE's monitoring concludes that the outstanding share of election-related responsibilities, together with the lack of professional staff and resources, restricted CEC's ability to process and decide on complaints and appeals.

As a result, the experts warn that CEC continued to come up with pronouncements after the three-day statutory deadline and in some cases failed to reach a decision before the October 30 runoff.

Despite all of the irregularities, the OSCE monitoring mission finds that the second round of the presidential and local elections in Bulgaria was held in an environment which showed respect for fundamental freedoms but nevertheless exposed a necessity for further efforts to improve the election process.

ODIHR observers add that the atmosphere at the October 30 runoff was calm and that voting proceeded in an orderly manner in all of the polling stations monitored.

However, the experts stress that the mandatory procedures for vote counting were not always strictly observed, which led to protocol reconciliation problems.