Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court orders adjustment of October 2024 election results
Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court stopped short of ordering a full recount of the ballots cast in the October 27 2024 early parliamentary elections in the country, instead asking the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) to recalculate the results based on partial recount data.
The court said late on February 26 that it made the decision after receiving the results of an expert report that carried out a limited recount in 2204 voting precincts, or 17.06 per cent of all precincts in the October 2024 election.
In 1768 precincts, the recount focused on the actual number of valid votes and their distribution between candidates standing in the election. The report found discrepancies in 46.75 per cent of the precincts between its findings and the final figures announced by the CEC, the court said.
In 436 precincts, the recount focused on the number of invalid votes, finding discrepancies between its findings and the CEC data in 35.78 per cent of the precincts.
The court’s decision requires CEC to adjust the final results using the data from the partial recount, specifically the categories of total ballots cast (including the subsections on machine and paper ballots), invalid votes, valid votes and their distribution among candidates, the four per cent threshold for entering Parliament, the distribution of seats in the 51st National Assembly and any changes to the line-up of elected MPs.
The court decision did not set a deadline for CEC to complete this recalculation.
Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court received five separate challenges to the election results, requesting from partial recount to full annulment of the October 2024 election results, citing various alleged breaches of election law. The court’s order for CEC to adjust the election results did not give any updated timeline on its ruling on the subject of the complaints lodged before it.
The biggest possible consequence of CEC’s adjustment of its data could be small nationalist-populist party Velichie joining the 51st National Assembly as its ninth and smallest group.
The party received 3.999 per cent of the votes, according to CEC’s results announce in October – or an estimated 21 votes short of the four per cent threshold for entering Parliament.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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