Bulgaria’s parliament has approved final amendments to the Electoral Code, restoring mandatory machine voting in larger polling stations, removing restrictions on voting sections abroad and abolishing the planned “Abroad” electoral district ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
The changes, adopted on Thursday, introduce machine-only voting in all polling stations with more than 300 registered voters. Smaller sections will continue to use paper ballots, returning to a system similar to the one introduced in 2021.
Under the new rules, votes will be counted through the voting machines, while the counting of control receipts will serve only as a verification procedure. Supporters of the measure argue that machine voting reduces the risk of human errors and manual manipulation of ballots.
The amendment restoring full machine voting in larger polling stations was approved with 148 votes in favor, 32 against and no abstentions. It was backed by Progressive Bulgaria (PB), Democratic Bulgaria (DB) and We Continue the Change (PP), while GERB, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and Revival voted against.
PP had proposed introducing machine voting in all polling stations with more than 100 voters, but the proposal was rejected after the ruling majority argued that there would not be enough machines available for the presidential elections. A proposal by MRF to introduce scanners for counting paper ballots was also rejected.
