Ciela Norma CEO warns of tight deadlines for election machine repairs

Veselin Todorov, CEO of Ciela Norma, has expressed concerns regarding the tight deadlines for repairing and maintaining voting machines ahead of the upcoming October 25 elections. The company is tasked with servicing a total of 12,800 machines, with approximately 3,000 currently identified as having specific issues.

A primary requirement is the replacement of batteries across the fleet, though the company noted that updates to the operating system are being postponed due to time constraints. Todorov highlighted that public procurement procedures must be strictly followed, which impacts the speed of securing contracts for these essential repairs.

Ciela Norma has proposed a 1.1 million euro repair plan to the Central Election Commission. While the company aims to have all machines ready for transport by Friday afternoon, Todorov cautioned that while they expect the devices to be functional by Saturday, he cannot guarantee that no technical issues will arise on election day given the scale of the equipment.