Home > 2.9 Electoral offences and sanctions > BULGARIA - Joint Opinion on Amendments to the Electoral Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 79
 

Regarding the voters’ right to challenge election results, previous recommendations remain unaddressed. The 2014 Joint Opinion states that “[t]he 2011 joint opinion also expressed concern as to the limited number of stakeholders who are able to challenge the election results.Candidates and voters registered in the constituency concerned should be entitled to contest the election results. As underlined in paragraph 57 of the 2011 Joint Opinion, “[i]n June 2009, the European Court of Human Rights concluded that similar provisions laid down in the then applicable Parliamentary Election Law did not provide for effective remedy due to the limited category of persons and bodies which may refer a case to the Constitutional Court. The above-mentioned articles should be amended accordingly so that the Code provides effective remedies for challenging election results.” Although the Code grants candidates the right to challenge election results,97 voters do not have the right to challenge election results. The comment is still valid with regard to the Electoral Code in force. PACE and the OSCE/ODIHR also reiterated the recommendation to give voters the right to challenge election results in their election observation reports that followed the early parliamentary elections held on 4 October 2014.