Two media outlets violated the Electoral Code due to the announced results – Elections

The CEC found violations of the Election Code for two electronic media because they announced preliminary voting data on Election Day, the commission said.

The Central Electoral Commission, after reviewing the website of the two media, found that they had published the results of public opinion polls, expressed as percentages directed to parties and coalitions of the elections of April 4, 2021.

Preliminary Election Day voting data is obtained by consulting voters about their vote after leaving the polling station. Therefore, the Central Electoral Commission accepts that in this case the voting results in percentages of parties and coalitions on the Pik.bg and Blitz.bg website are precisely the results of public opinion polls on election day and they are a violation of the EC.

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According to the provisions of art. 205, para. 5 of the Electoral Code prohibits the results of public opinion polls on the occasion of elections to be announced in any form 24 hours before the day of the elections until the end of the electoral day is announced in the territory of the country, remembered by the commission. The law provides that the person who has violated the provision of art. 205 / IC /, fine or property sanction in the amount of BGN 2,000 to 5,000. The subject of the administrative offense can be a natural or legal person.

The CEC directed the two electronic publications to immediately remove the published results of opinion polls from their websites.

In addition, the final protocol of the voting machines in Veliko Tarnovo must be printed after the end of election day. This is the main decision of the CEC in response to a query from DEC-Veliko Tarnovo on the case, after stopping the machines there. The results of the machine will be printed and filled in the minutes of the commissions section, it is the commission’s instruction.

From the CEC meeting, which is currently taking place, it also emerged that there are two machines that are not working in the Razgrad district, which technicians cannot repair. Voting will continue with paper ballots only. The downtime of the machines will be indicated in the section report. Such are the instructions given by the CEC to the REC of Razgrad.