About 1,000 additional voting machines will have to be secured for the early parliamentary elections on July 11, the Central Election Commission (CEC) told a news briefing on Thursday. According to CEC spokesperson Rositsa Mateva, the voting machines secured for the local elections and by-elections can be used on July 11 or, in case of ballotage, there is an option for software updates. "The idea is to make use of all available devices, and allow all citizens to cast their ballots without delay," Mateva said.

Bulgaria has 9,600 voting machines for the early parliamentary elections on July 11. Additionally, by-elections and local elections will require another 150 machines, plus 50 more for the voting sections that need more than one device.

Mateva also said that CEC has okayed the installation of extra machines in 700 voting sections where more than 450 persons cast their ballots on April 4. Over 240 machines are needed for overseas voting sections that each serviced more than 300 people or will do so on July 11, adding up to about a thousand machines, according to Mateva.

On Wednesday, CEC requested of machine supplier Ciela Norma to deliver three machines to CEC HQ, to be used in dry run voting in the conditions of a real voting section in order to evaluate how many voters can cast their ballots on a device per day. According to Mateva, this will shed additional light on the necessary number of machines in larger voting sections.

There were a total of 9,398 voting sections that serviced more than 300 persons each in the general elections on April 4, and in all of them machine voting was possible. The CEC spokesperson said they are expecting similar figures on July 11.