By a decision of 4 February 2013 (in Bulgarian), the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) repealed a decision of the Administrative court – Yambol as well as the refusal of the Municipal Elections Commission – Yambol to provide the originals of the protocols of the sectional elections commissions of the local elections held on 23 October 2011 in 103 sections on the territory of the Yambol Municipality, as well as copies of selected protocols after review.
The SAC Justices held that the names of officials do not amount to protected personal data. According to Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Elections Code the elections commissions members, including those of sectional elections commissions, have the status of public officials in the performance of their functions, so that the spelling of their names in the established by the commissions protocols identifies them as officials – members of the respective collective body and not as individuals. Therefore, with the provision of the original protocols will not be disclosed any personal data.
The information was requested on 25 October 2011 by Diana Boncheva, a journalist and AIP coordinator for Yambol, from the Municipal Electoral Commission (MEC) - Yambol. A silent refusal followed.
Within the 14-day period under the APIA no response was received. The silent refusal was challenged before the Administrative court – Yambol (ACY).