Election commission U-turn: Voting machine receipts will be stamped after all
The Central Election Commission has changed its instructions for Sunday's presidential vote. Without a stamp, it was unclear how receipts would be counted.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Bulgaria's Central Election Commission (CEC) on Wednesday amended its instructions for machine voting. The receipts printed by the voting devices will now be stamped by a member of the polling station commission after all at Sunday's presidential election. The originally adopted version did not provide for this, unlike in the last several elections. That had raised questions about how receipts without a stamp would be counted.
Under the new instructions, voters check their choice on the receipt, fold it and have it stamped by a member of the polling station commission. They must then drop it into the separate box for machine voting receipts. Machines will be used in 9,373 polling stations in the country, with two devices in stations with more than 780 voters. A total of 11,622 machines are planned for election day.
Around 6.59 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote. There are 613 polling stations abroad, 242 of them with machine voting. The campaign ends at midnight on Friday, followed by a day of reflection on Saturday. The CEC will announce the results 48 hours after election day.