The Bulgarian Central Election Commission (CEC) is awaiting the recalculated election results from "Information Services," following a Constitutional Court ruling that requires verification of the vote count (last parliamentary elections in Bulgaria October 2024). This process is expected to clarify whether there will be a change in the distribution of mandates in the 51st National Assembly.

Initially, the recalculated data from 2,204 sections were due to be submitted by "Information Services" yesterday. However, the company missed the deadline, citing the transfer of certain materials to the prosecutor’s office without prior approval from the CEC. This delay has, in turn, prevented the commission from forwarding the updated results to the Constitutional Court, further postponing a final decision on the legitimacy of the election outcome.

The Constitutional Court's president, Pavlina Panova, criticized the delay, emphasizing that the court’s work should not depend on the actions or inactions of other institutions. In an official statement, she noted that despite providing responses to all additional questions from the CEC, the commission has yet to complete its assigned recalculation. Panova also confirmed that after 6:00 p.m. on March 10, the court was informed that "Information Services" had transferred crucial documents, technical media, and devices to the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office without the court’s authorization, hindering the resolution of the case.

The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office has now requested all correspondence between the CEC and the Constitutional Court, including documents exchanged with "Information Services." The state-owned company also forwarded to the prosecutor's office the flash drives containing the recalculated results from 2,204 sections. However, "Information Services" later clarified that while they provided the prosecutor’s office with materials related to data entry and computer processing, they did not hand over the original or copied protocols sent by the Constitutional Court. The company has since returned all original source documents to the CEC.

As the situation unfolds, it has become evident that there will be changes in the number of valid and invalid votes. Experts discovered missing ballots in seven sections during their court-mandated review. Two sections lack any ballots, while five others are missing either machine or paper ballots. Since votes were initially recorded in these sections but the corresponding ballots are now unavailable, approximately 780 votes will be nullified. The CEC has acknowledged these discrepancies and is investigating the handling of election materials at the municipal level.

In Blagoevgrad, where constitutional judges requested election materials from 15 out of 19 sections, local election officials insist they handed over full bags of ballots and documents to municipal administrations. The Regional Election Commission and municipal authorities maintain that they fulfilled their responsibilities, raising questions about what transpired after the section commissions delivered the materials. In response to detected irregularities, the CEC has also forwarded cases from Belitsa, Garmen, and Ognyanovo to the prosecutor’s office, based on video surveillance evidence.

Members of the CEC have expressed concern over the handling of election materials, with some questioning how "Information Services" transferred documents without the commission’s authorization. The CEC has now extended the deadline for "Information Services" to finalize the recalculation until 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. Once completed, the updated results will indicate whether the distribution of mandates in the National Assembly will change, allowing the Constitutional Court to make a final ruling.

Meanwhile, "Information Services" maintains that it has always acted with professionalism, transparency, and responsibility in processing election data. The company emphasized that it has been handling election results for over 20 years and fully cooperates with all state institutions involved in the case. It also reiterated that the CEC publishes scanned protocols before announcing final results, ensuring that participants and external analysts can verify the data.

With the 4% electoral threshold for entering the National Assembly set at 97,458 votes, the recalculated results may impact the final composition of the legislature. As the deadline approaches, all eyes remain on the CEC and "Information Services" to determine whether the election results will undergo significant changes.

Sources:

• BTA
• BNR
• BNT