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Statement of Information Services on the false and manipulative information presented by Rumen Petkov about the computer processing of the results of the elections held on 2 October 2022.
In connection with the false and manipulative information presented by Rumen Petkov about the computer processing of the results of the snap parliamentary elections held on 2 October 2022, we strongly object and oppose the attempts to involve Information Services in political theses and suggestions.
Mr Petkov's allegations concerning a delay in voter turnout data do not correspond to the truth. We would like to emphasize that turnout data are published on the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) website according to a pre-established schedule. The final turnout can only be published after the data from the polling station protocols have been re-entered and an updated database has been created. It is a prerequisite that the CEC has completed the analysis of discrepancies (article 301, paragraph 5 of the Electoral Code (EC). It is important to note that in the last elections held on 2 October 2022, the final results were announced 1 day earlier than the deadline set by the CEC.
The analysis of discrepancies is carried out by the CEC and covers the differences between the first entry of the data from the polling station protocols in the REC and the re-entry in the CEC, as well as the violations of the controls recorded in the protocols (article 301, paragraph 4 of the EC). The analysis is a public document adopted by a decision of the CEC and published on the Commission's website. For the past elections, the decision is No 1546-NC dated 5 October 2022 and can be found at the following link: https://www.cik.bg/bg/decisions/1546/2022-10-05.
It is completely untrue that the Bulgarian Rise coalition lost 4 000 votes as a result of the analysis of discrepancies. Discrepancies in actual votes for the Bulgarian Rise coalition have been identified in two sections - 104800031 (Bulgarian Rise: 32 votes) and 321100112 (Bulgarian Rise: 5 votes). The decision adopted by the CEC was made on the basis of a review of the original primary documents - protocols of the Polling station commissions and data of the voting machines.
We recall that since 2003 open data on processed information and analysis of discrepancies have been published. On this basis, any interested person can repeat and verify all the steps performed by the company until the final results are calculated by the CEC.
The claim that Information Services denied the CEC access to the source code is also untrue. The computer processing systems are submitted to the CEC prior to the elections, going through the full cycle of results processing. Since 2003, the source code has been made available to the Commission before the start of the polling day, as soon as the requirements of the electoral legislation, the methodological guidelines and CEC recommendations have been met.
For the 2 October 2022 elections, the computer processing systems were presented publicly on 16 September 2022 to the CEC, to representatives of the parties participating in the elections and to international observers. The source code was provided to the CEC according to an established procedure, with a bilaterally signed acceptance protocol, before the election date.
The CEC fully supervises and directs the work of the Information Services' computing stations, which strictly comply with the requirements of the electoral legislation, regulations and methodological guidelines. It should be recalled that during the computer processing of the results, registered observers, advocates, poll workers and candidates in the elections have access to the established computing stations.
In conclusion, we believe that the dissemination of false and misleading information about the work of Information Services, including as a National System Integrator, attempts to misinform the Bulgarian society by indicating and/or presenting false information about prices from unauthorized sources and undermining the prestige of the company, undermines the confidence in the electoral process and adversely affects voter turnout. Information Services is a long-standing technology partner of the CEC; it has been involved in the computer processing of all parliamentary, local, and presidential elections, and the work on the computer processing of election results has always been accepted without comment or objection by the competent authorities, as well as by all other participants in the electoral process.
In practice, the work of Information Service is controlled by the whole society due to the fact that the election results are public, both after the completion of the work of the CEC and after the final decision on the election results is made by the CEC and published on the Commission's website.