EditElections in Bulgaria: without 100% machine vote, we need 100% people dedication
The current administration is pushing to retain paper ballots, while the opposition demands 100% machine voting with electronic tabulation of results
With a caretaker government in place and snap parliamentary elections expected in March 2026, Bulgaria’s ruling parties and opposition are once again locked in fierce conflict – this time over the rules governing the eighth national vote since 2021.
The current administration is pushing to retain paper ballots, while the opposition demands 100% machine voting with electronic tabulation of results.
In recent elections, Bulgarians have voted using a hybrid system: some cast ballots by hand on paper, while others used machines. In practice, however, the machines function essentially as printers – the paper receipts they produce are counted manually and not electronically tallied. This arrangement has been in effect since late 2022, when paper ballots were reintroduced and machine voting was effectively undermined. The change was pushed through by the so-called “paper coalition”—the center-right GERB party, the long-influential liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), and the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
A tool against behind-the-scenes control
One of the key demands of the massive protests that erupted at the end of 2025 – and which ultimately forced the government’s resignation – was for fair elections achieved through fully machine-based voting as a safeguard against a captured state. Thousands of citizens took to the streets again yesterday with the same call, chanting: “You will not steal these elections too!” – even though the parliamentary Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee cancelled a scheduled session to discuss amendments to the Electoral Code.
The proposal for 100% machine voting has united an otherwise diverse parliamentary opposition. Leading the charge is the pro-European coalition We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), but it is also backed by the pro-Russian Revival party, as well as smaller Euroskeptic parties like MECH and Velichie. Following the cabinet’s resignation, President Rumen Radev urged political parties to minimize the “subjective human factor in voting and vote counting,” explicitly calling for “100% machine voting with electronic tabulation of results and manual counting of control receipts” as the solution.
It remains uncertain whether full machine voting will be adopted; the more likely outcome is retention of the current hybrid system. Opposing 100% machines, GERB and oligarch Delyan Peevski’s faction within DPS (now operating under a “New Beginning” label) are advocating for optical scanners instead. They are joined by other recent coalition partners, including BSP and the conservative There Is Such a People (ITN). However, this scanner proposal surfaced at a time when it is clear that implementing new devices would be impossible due to the short timeframe before the elections.
The true intentions of the current power-holders – to preserve the existing voting setup – became evident in a social media comment from GERB leader Boyko Borissov. He stated that if the caretaker government fails to secure the scanning devices, “GERB believes it is best to keep the current Electoral Code in force.”
Bozhidar Bozhanov, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria (part of Democratic Bulgaria) and an IT expert, outlined several flaws in the proposed scanners. They would facilitate vote-buying and ballot manipulation because they do not allow for a second control stamp. This makes it easy to insert pre-filled ballots into the box – a tactic known as the “Indian thread.” Voters could still photograph their ballots in the voting booth, scanners only accept filled circles (not X or other marks), which would increase invalid ballots, and more.
The impact of machines
Voting machines were first used on a large scale and mandatorily in polling stations with over 300 voters during the 14 November 2021 presidential and parliamentary elections – seven years after their legal introduction. The visible result was a dramatic drop in invalid ballots: from 169,009 in the previous 2017 elections to just 11,315 (4.6% of votes cast) – a margin sufficient for one political force to cross the parliamentary threshold. On 2 October 2022, when machines were again in use, invalid ballots fell further to 9,042.
In Bulgaria, critics of machine voting derisively call the devices “Maduro machines,” after former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, implying they enable rigged victories. In reality, Venezuelan opposition forces have relied on summing data from machine protocols to document actual results. The machines used in Bulgaria were developed by Smartmatic, a company founded in South America, and supplied locally by the private firm Ciela Norma.
Unlike machine protocols, it is very easy to invalidate a paper ballot – with a simple scratch, ink smudge, tear, or mark outside the designated box, the ballot ends up in the trash. It is also straightforward to falsify or overcount paper-based protocols. Opposition parties struggle to find trained representatives for precinct electoral commissions (which handle manual counting), and those who do serve must resist pressure.
Video surveillance of vote counting has exposed blatant violations, but such footage lacks legal evidentiary value in court. The law provides no consequences even if protocol tampering is detected – such as inflating votes for one party while zeroing out another’s. Yet there are exceptions: five months after the 2 October 2024, vote, the Constitutional Court ruled the election of 16 MPs unlawful due to serious discrepancies between protocols and actual votes. This forced a recount and redistribution of mandates, allowing the Velichie party to enter the 51st parliament as the ninth political force.
The Constitutional Court’s decision highlighted how vulnerable manual counting is and how the current Electoral Code fails to ensure full accountability and transparency. President Radev has also recalled these “outrages”.
Who will control the caretaker Interior Minister be?
The president has signalled willingness to give parties the time needed for Electoral Code changes, stressing that “it’s not about when the elections will be held, but what kind of elections we will conduct.” This flexibility stems from the Bulgarian Constitution, which sets no deadline for handing over the third mandate to form a regular government. The first two mandates—given to GERB-SDS and PP-DB—were immediately returned to the head of state.
However, machine voting is not a cure-all for bought and controlled votes, which remain major threats to Bulgarian democracy. Combating them is the direct responsibility of the Interior Ministry (MVR).This makes it critical whether the caretaker prime minister comes from the Borissov-Peevski faction – the model the protesters want dismantled – as that would mean the caretaker Interior Minister would also be their choice. The minister’s role is pivotal: launching active pre-election investigations (not just “show actions”), dismantling intermediary networks instead of targeting only small-time executors, and checking the origins of distributed money and food packages.
The problem is that nearly all potential candidates for caretaker prime minister have been selected by the Borissov–Peevski circle. The choice of the future caretaker premier precedes the setting of an election date.
The battle for electoral integrity will be decided even before the vote date is announced. If 100% machine voting is not enshrined in the Electoral Code, the human factor will be decisive – voter turnout levels, the actions of the Interior Ministry, and how party representatives in precinct commissions count the votes. Without 100% machines, Bulgaria needs 100% dedicated people.
Caption: “Voting ONLY with machines”, reads a banner at the protest held in Sofia on 14 January 2026. [Photo by BTA]
Updated: January 15, 2026 - 09:31
