Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has declared that he does not know the owner of the printing house from which a total of 350 000 illegal ballots were seized ahead of the May 12 general election in the country.

“God is witness that we have nothing to do with that printing house,” Borisov told reporters on Thursday, making the sign of the cross.

The owner of the printing house is a municipal councilor from Borisov’s center-right GERB party.

The former PM noted that he cannot possibly know all of his 1 600 municipal councilors personally. However, he admitted that the owner was technically in conflict of interest.

Borisov’s right-hand man, former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, also refuted allegations that he has “close ties” with the owner.

Tsvetanov insisted that he had merely shaken hands with the owner, Yordan Bonchev, during the election campaign.

Borisov, whose center-right GERB party narrowly won the election, announced Thursday that GERB will appeal to the constitutional court and seek the cancellation of the election due to “a gross violation of the law in the day before the vote."

Borisov claimed that his party's chances had been damaged by allegations that it was about to commit voting fraud.  He referred to the overnight raid of the Bulgarian prosecuting authority and the State Agency for National Security at a printing house on the eve of Election Day, during which a total of 350 000 illegal ballots were seized.

The printing house is owned by a GERB municipal councilor, which prompted opposition parties to accuse GERB of an attempted voting fraud. The parties thus allegedly broke the mandatory pre-election silence on Saturday.