Bulgarian CEC Conducted Machine Voting Test

In 700 polling sections in the country will probably be placed two voting machines and not only one. This is the assessment of the Central Election Commission based on the results of the first test voting with machines, which took place today.

The experiment showed that 75 people could vote with a machine within an hour. This means that 975 people can vote in one 13-hour election day. CEC spokesman Cvetozar Tomov described this result as quite optimistic.

The test was organized in such a way as to closely resemble the real voting process in the sectional election commissions. It was attended by members of the Public Council at the CEC and officials in the administration of the National Assembly, many of whom said that for the first time they were voting by machine.

According to CEC spokeswoman Rosica Mateva, the experiment confirms that in the polling stations where more than 450 voters voted in the April 4 elections, at least two machine voting devices will need to be installed to avoid delays. to ensure a smooth electoral process in the sections with more than 300 voters, where machine voting is mandatory.

After the test vote is repeated on Sunday in the village of Dobroslavtsi, a final decision will be made next week on how many additional machines will be ordered for the July 11 vote. For now, the initial hypothesis remains that between 1,000 and 1,500 devices will be needed.

The preliminary chart of accounts was prepared when another 1,500 voting machines were delivered. Whether more will be needed will be decided after two experiments with voting on such devices in an uncontrolled environment.

More assessments will be made after test voting, which will take place on Sunday in Dobroslavtsi and on Monday in...