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The GERB wants the majority of votes to be made in a single round during the elections to the Grand National Assembly, it is clear from the proposals presented before the second reading of the draft amendments to the Electoral Code. The texts will be considered in the parliamentary legal committee on Tuesday, and between the two readings, all but Will presented draft amendments to the law.
Boyko Borissov’s party insists on convening a Grand National Assembly, for which the ruling party still does not have the necessary support, because the BSP and the MRF are firmly “against”. Without them, the 160 necessary signatures cannot be collected.
In this context, the ruling party supports the controversial text of the elections that will be held on two consecutive days. The idea of removing this text is shared by the NFSB and the BSP. GERB’s initial draft called for the vote to take place on two consecutive days in a “declared epidemic,” as is currently the case due to the coronavirus. This idea has been severely criticized both by other parties in parliament and by lawyers.
CEC and automatic voting
However, GERB does not waive its intention to transferred full responsibility for automatic voting to the CEC. This proposal led to the resignation of former CEC president Stefka Stoeva, nominated by GERB. She officially announced that she was leaving office “for personal reasons”, but this came after several attempts on her part to discuss her intention with the government.
The current Electoral Code stipulates that in sections of the country with more than 300 voters, voting must be by machine only. With the project presented last month, GERB proposes You can also vote with ballots. Between the two readings, the ruling party did not back down from this intention.
What is new is the set period of 30 days, in which the relevant control bodies review the machines provided by the CEC.
A candidate can be both a majority and a candidate
Most of the GERB proposals between the two readings are dedicated to the elections for the Grand National Assembly. The idea of the ruling party is to elect it through a mixed electoral system: 200 deputies by proportional vote and 200 deputies by majority. Between the two readings, the party has developed its idea in more detail.
It is clear from the texts that the majority of votes will be made in a single round. The expectations that, as in the presidential and mayoral elections, this vote would take place in two rounds did not materialize. This means that between the first and second in a zone there will be no runoff.
The amendments stipulate that a candidate can be on the proportional list and be a majority candidate of a party. GERB proposes, in case of being elected in both directions, to take their place as the elected majority, and instead of the proportional list to enter the next one.
The NFSB does not want a mixed electoral system for the Supreme National Assembly
It is clear from the proposed changes between the two NFSB readings that Valeri Simeonov’s MPs do not agree with GERB’s idea of a mixed system.
The NFSB wants parliamentarians in the Supreme National Assembly to be elected only proportionally. They motivated their request with the fact that according to the current constitution, the elections for the Grand National Assembly are carried out according to the “general order”. The party emphasizes that the “general order” is one in which deputies are elected to an ordinary parliament. “Therefore, a special chapter should not be created for the rules for the election of deputies in the Grand National Assembly,” the statement said.
The BSP wants to vote only with machines in sections with more than 300 voters
The Socialists, on the other hand, are proposing that in the next elections in the sections of the country with more than 300 voters, the vote is done only with devices, as it is written in the current Electoral Code.
The BSP also proposes that the Council of Ministers be responsible for the acquisition, storage, programming and logistics of the machines. They also suggest that SANS can perform device testing and certification.
The deputies from Cornelia Ninova’s party, as well as the NFSB, propose that the idea of GERB be abandoned for the mixed elections for the Supreme National Assembly and that the deputies for it be elected only proportionally.
The MRF also submitted proposals between the two readings. The texts in practice repeat their rejection at the beginning of the month’s bill, which again provided for the invalidation of preferences and turmoil in the mother tongue.
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