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© Julia Lazarova
The decision as to whether or not the vote count can be recorded will actually be made after the election.
In the elections for a new parliament on Sunday (April 4), there will be no video recording or video transmission of the count. This is clear from the ruling of a three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), which is in the case this morning and was pronounced at the last minute of the working day (April 2).
In their first comment after the court ruling, the leader of “Yes, Bulgaria” Hristo Ivanov and lawyer Nadezhda Yordanova said that the state institutions CEC and CPDP have done everything possible to achieve this result by postponing and without video surveillance of the elections. .
However, they said they had instructed their advocates to report abuses and will register the protocols section for the application “You accounts”, to carry out video surveillance of vote counting without breaking the law and without disclosing personal data or those present.
Everything you need to know about the 2021 parliamentary elections – read here
How the decision was made
On February 8, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Personal Data Protection Commission (CPDP) issued joint instructions on the processing and protection of personal data, which in practice do not allow video recording of the counting process.
This instruction was attacked in the Administrative Court of the city of Sofia by “Democratic Bulgaria – Unification”, which demanded the cancellation of the instruction and the possibility of recording and transmitting the census in real time. By resolution of March 15, 2021, the Administrative Court agreed to his request and authorized video surveillance after election day, but the Central Electoral Commission and the Personal Data Protection Commission appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Due to increased public interest and the impending date of the elections, the Supreme Administrative Court has scheduled the case for a brief hearing at a public hearing, which was held this morning. Although there was a 3-day period to govern by law, the panel made a decision in the last minutes of the working day.
During the meeting this morning of the CEC and the CPDP objected and demanded that the case not be started on the merits, since the requirements of the law have not been met. and they have not been notified within 7 days of the meeting.
In the courtroom, the Personal Data Protection Commission has requested that a reference be made to the Court of Justice of the European Union for the application of the Data Protection Directive. For these reasons, the court did not proceed with the merits of the case. it was postponed until April 14, 2021.
“Democratic Bulgaria”, for its part, insisted on the prompt sentence and confirmation of the first instance decision, which allowed the launch of the scrutiny. In the hall they also demanded that the implementation of the joint instructions of the CEC and the CPDP be suspended.
© “Democratic Bulgaria”
The lawyer Nadezhda Yordanova explained that despite the court’s decision, they had instructed their defenders, who would report abuses and record the protocols of the section for the “You Count” application, to conduct video surveillance of the vote count without violating the law and without showing personal data. or assistants.
However, the three-member SAC panel found that there is no procedural possibility to rule on the merits of the requested request. This arises after the referral to the court with reference to new facts and circumstances, which are missing in this case. Therefore, the request is inadmissible, accept the supreme magistrates. The date of the elections was known with the publication in the Official State Gazette of the decree of the President to determine the date of the elections – April 4.
The court’s ruling is in no sense final and subject to appeal to a five-member panel of the SAC, that is, it cannot go into effect until the elections on April 4, reported by the SAC.
Furthermore, the Supreme Magistrates clarified that the request for suspension of the implementation of the instructions for the processing and protection of personal data was made for the first time today during a public hearing for “Democratic Bulgaria – Unification”.
Thus, in practice, the decision on whether or not to allow video surveillance in elections will be taken after the elections.
“The Central Election Commission and the Personal Data Protection Commission are blocking the court’s speedy ruling on the videotaping of the vote count on election night. In fact, they have attacked the democratic rights of citizens to hold elections. under clear electoral rules, an effective decision, “commented lawyer Nadezhda Yordanova, who represents” Democratic Bulgaria “in the process.
“I do not accept the position of the CEC and the CPDP, which was expressed at the hearing and which did not allow the resolution of this dispute on the merits. All the arguments we heard from them were made outside the courtroom. they were ready “Obviously the goals are different, not to achieve justice, fair, clear and fair elections,” added Yordanova.
