The above idea was discussed by the committee at its sitting held on December 7th, 2013. It solves the problem with printing a different type, something impossible to be carried out by the National Bank, which is the one in charge of the process of printing the voting papers. The head of the committee, Maya Manolova, presented before the members of the committee the other type, which was one meter long. The names of the parties and the candidates on this type of paper were written in a very small script and even the use of such script would not permit to include the names of all parties and candidates in local elections, explained Maya Manolova.

The final decision of the committee on the version of the voting paper is to be made next Monday. So if parliament agrees with the proposal of the Public Council, the voting paper will be smaller of the above –its left side will contain the parties’ names, its right side the number of the candidates included in the party lists. The voter will vote first for the party he chooses and if he/she is willing to vote for a particular candidate of this party he/she will mark his/her number. The names of the candidates and their order in the parties’ ballots will be available in the election booth. So the vote will have a preferential element.

The committee has reviewed the rules concerning the participation of the different parties in the Central and Local Electoral Commissions. According to the agreed texts all the parties, represented in the parliament and those who have representatives in the European Parliament, elected on their ballot, have the right to partake in the commissions.  The final text will be adopted next week.