October 21 (BTA) - The Central Election Commission (CEC)
has concluded a contract with Ciela Norma AD for the delivery of
 an additional 1,600 voting machines needed for the November 14
elections, CEC Spokesperson Rositsa Mateva told a briefing
Thursday. The machines should arrive in Bulgaria by October 31.

Ciela Norma is the company which won the public procurement for
the delivery and maintenance of the voting machines through
which next month citizens will cast their vote for president and
 members of Parliament.

Mateva recalled that out of the 9,398 sections with machine
voting, 2,119 will be equipped with two machines. A decision on
the vote abroad has not been taken yet but it will be based on
the voting applications submitted and on the number of voters in
 a given section abroad in the previous elections, she
explained.

A total of 7,389,600 paper ballots are about to be printed for
each of the two types of elections scheduled for November 14,
Mateva said.

A total of 56,668 applications for voting abroad have been
submitted, compared to 71,218 for the July election, she also
said, noting that the CEC has until October 23 to decide on the
number and locations of constituency election commissions to be
set up by Bulgaria's diplomatic and consular representations.

The CEC has decided that the slip to be printed out by the
voting machines once someone has cast their vote, will be twice
longer for the parliamentary elections so that it could be
easily distinguished from the slip for the presidential
elections once folded as required. The voter will have to place
both slips in one and the same non-transparent ballot box.

Asked whether the constituency election commissions' members and
 the persons involved in the running of the election process
will need a green certificate as proof of vaccination against or
 recovery from COVID-19, Mateva said there is no such
requirement at present. Most commission members were vaccinated
for the April 4 elections, she added. Bulgarian voters abroad
will have to observe the measures in effect in the corresponding
 country, the CEC Spokesperson noted.

RY/DS


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