DECISION № 8 OF 7 OCTOBER 2009 ON CONSTITUTIONAL CASE № 9/2009
The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria approached the Constitutional Court with a complaint of the Blue Coalition contesting the lawfulness of the election result of the parliamentary election on 5 July 2009 with reference to Art. 112 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA).
The Prosecutor General and the Blue Coalition disagreed with the election result in the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse and with the election of one Member of Parliament and objected to the inaccuracy on the part of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). They insisted that the District Electoral Commission 19-27-00-121 in the said constituency made an obvious error in facts when it wrote Record № 000241 ( Appendix № 51). Twenty-four valid ballot papers were cast there for the Blue Coalition registered under № 19 in the Integral Ballot; however, in the record they were attributed to the coalition ,,For the Homeland – Democratic Citizens Initiative – New Leaders” (registered under № 20 in the Integral Ballot) for which as a matter of fact zero ballots were cast whereas the Blue Coalition was entered with a zero return. The complainer cites the circumstances and supports the complaint with written evidence.
The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria presented the complaint of the nominee from the Blue Coalition in the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse in the procedure of the PEA's Art. 112. In his opinion the Central Electoral Commission erroneously determined the result from the voting and ,,the District Electoral Commission of Election District 19-27-00-121 in the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse made an obvious error in facts when it wrote Record № 000241 ( Appendix № 51) about the results from the voting on the Election Day. ”
Having received the materials that they had requested, the Constitutional Court members had an in camera sitting to examine the election papers of Election District 19-27-00-121 within the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse, about the nominee lists of political parties or coalitions. The Constitutional Court's Resolution of 29 September 2009 concluded that 24 valid votes had been cast for the Blue Coalition in Election District 19-27-00-121 – Rousse within the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency Русе, on the Election Day, 5 July 2009 , whereas zero ballots had been cast for the coalition ,,For the Homeland – Democratic Citizens Initiative – New Leaders” and these facts were swapped in Record № 000241 ( Appendix № 51) of the same district electoral commission.
The Constitutional Court sent its Resolution of 29 September 2009 to the Central Electoral Commission and asked the CEC to provide information about whether the 24 extra ballots in favor of the Blue Coalition in the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse, would change the released election returns and if they would, what reshuffle would have to be made in the National Assembly after the recalculation with the help of the CEC-approved methodology for determining the results from the voting.
On 6 October 2009 the CEC for parliamentary elections provided the information that the Constitutional Court had asked for and sent it its Resolution № HC-250 of 6 October 2009. According to that communication the 24 valid ballots cast for the Blue Coalition in the election district in question were processed by the methodology for determining the results from the voting and gave the following distribution of seats in the following constituencies: 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse: the Blue Coalition won one seat, the Political Party Movement for Rights and Freedoms lost one seat; 8 th Multi-seat Constituency – Dobrich: the Political Party Movement for Rights and Freedoms won one seat, the Blue Coalition lost one seat.
The Constitutional Court concluded that 24 valid ballots had been cast for the Blue Coalition and that zero valid ballots had been cast for the coalition ,,For the Homeland – Democratic Citizens Initiative – New Leadership” in the 19 th Multi-seat Constituency – Rousse on the day of parliamentary election, 5 July 2009 , in Election District 19-27-00-121 and that the election results had been swapped in Record № 000241 ( Appendix № 51) of the District Electoral Commission. Added to the Blue Coalition's election returns these ballots substantially changed the election results.
Председател: Васил Гоцев