Bulgarian Parliament rejects Presidential veto on Election Code amendments
Baku, February 25, AZERTAC
Parliament Wednesday rejected President Iliana Iotova's veto on amendments to the Election Code. The controversial revisions slash the number of polling stations in Bulgarian elections in countries outside the EU, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).
The vote against the veto was 126-86, with 11 abstentions.
The President imposed her suspensory veto the amendments that limit to 20 the number of voting sections in any country which is not an EU Member State, not counting the voting sections at Bulgarian embassies and consulates. As she did so, she argued that regardless of their whereabouts, Bulgarian citizens enjoy all rights and obligations under the Constitution, and the State is obliged to ensure equality in the exercise of franchise. She reasoned that the amendments as adopted jeopardize the principle of universal suffrage proclaimed in the Constitution. She cites a Constitutional Court decision enjoining the State to ensure to each Bulgarian citizen conditions to exercise their franchise freely and without obstacles of any nature whatsoever. Also, she pointed out that the revisions deliberately bar Bulgarian voters outside the EU from the exercise of their right to vote. "The difficulties may be posed by the remote location of the voting section, the large number of citizens who have expressed a wish to vote, and the number of those who can effectively exercise this right to polling day. Such Bulgarian citizens will thus find it difficult or impossible to comply also with the principle of compulsory voting as included in the Election Code," the reasoning reads.
The vote of the MPs from the Socialists' BSP-United Left group was critically important for the fate of the veto and what happened was that the group split halfway with some backing it and other voting to defeat it, essentially securing the votes to override the veto.
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