Wait for the beep: Election commission issues new rules for voting machines
After machines failed to store votes in 14 polling stations in the first round, voting instructions must now be posted visibly next to every device. 31 machines broke down.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
The Central Election Commission has issued new instructions on machine voting ahead of the runoff. In the first round, machines in 14 polling stations in four regions failed to store the votes of some voters. "This is a case of an interrupted voting process," commission spokesperson Stoyanka Balova told broadcaster BNT. If the card is removed too early or the control receipt is pulled out before the beep, a partial receipt can be printed without the vote being saved to the flash memory.
The voting procedure must now be posted in a visible place next to the machine, and voters must be told when they can ask to vote again. The commission advises waiting for the beep first, then taking the receipt and finally removing the card. New commissions will be appointed in the affected polling stations in Sofia's 24th electoral district.
In the first round, 31 machines broke down – 29 in Bulgaria and 2 abroad – and in 27 polling stations voting continued on a second device. Under the contract, the contractor must repair the faults in the week before the runoff, and unused machines will not be paid for.