site.btaOctober 27, 2019 Local Elections: Facts and Figures

October 24 (Lyubomir Gigov of BTA) - After a month-long
campaign and a day of reflection, Bulgarians are going to the
polls on Sunday to elect their local government authorities.
These will be the country's eighth local elections since the
start of democratic changes in 1989 and the second governed by
the new Election Code (adopted in March 2014 and last amended in
 August 2019).

Since the previous local elections in 2015, legislation has been
 amended to raise the population threshold qualifying a
settlement for a mayoralty back to 350 residents from 100
before. As a result of this, 1,968 small settlements or 1,220
fewer than the 3,188 in 2015 will elect a mayor of their own
instead of having an appointed lieutenant mayor.

For the first time in local elections, people will be able to
cast a valid "punitive" vote by marking a "None Of The Above"
square on their ballots.

These will also be the first local elections in which voting is
compulsory. The voting obligation, though, will be practically
unenforceable after the Constitutional Court determined by a
Decision dated February 23, 2017 that the penalty for non-voters
 (which consisted in removal from the electoral roll for the
next elections of the same type) was unconstitutional.
Permanently disabled and visually impaired persons, persons with
 ambulant difficulties and those aged over 70 were anyway exempt
 from the obligation to vote. Besides this, non-voting could be
excused by "compelling reasons", which meant absence from
Bulgaria for the period of the parliamentary elections,
engagement with study or business and other unforeseen
circumstances.

Under legislative amendments passed in July 2019, machine voting
 is no longer available at local elections because it is
arguably too complicated to handle by the election
administration.

The October 27 elections will be the most expensive ones to
date: they will cost the public purse a record 70.7 million leva
 (compared to 50.5 million leva for the 2015 local elections,
which were moreover held concurrently with a national
referendum, 30 million leva for the 2017 parliamentary
elections, and 32 million leva for the 2019 European Parliament
elections).

Voters

The right to elect municipal councillors and mayors vests in
Bulgarian citizens and EU Member State nationals who are aged 18
 by polling day, are not interdicted, do not serve a custodial
sentence, and have a permanent or present address registration
in Bulgaria by April 26, 2019 and at least one of these
addresses is in the respective municipality and, for elections
of mayoralty mayors, in the respective mayoralty. In addition to
 these qualifications, EU Member State nationals must enjoy a
durable or permanent residence status for Bulgaria, must have a
residence address in the municipality where they will vote (for
elections of mayoralty mayors, in the mayoralty where they will
vote) by April 26, 2019, must not be deprived of the right to
elect in the Member State of their nationality, and must have
declared in advance in writing their desire to vote in the
respective municipality or must have voted in the previous local
 elections and the declared circumstances must be unchanged.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Registration and
Administrative Services with the Ministry of Regional
Development and Public Works (GRAO), eligible voters for the
2019 local elections numbered 6,227,901 by September 19, 2019
(including 770 nationals of other EU Member States resident in
Bulgaria who declared their desire to vote). Some 427,000
persons (in the estimates of election expert Mihail
Konstantinov), while figuring on the rolls, will be unable to
exercise their franchise because they are permanently resident
abroad.

Contestants and Candidates

The Central Election Commission registered 59 parties and seven
coalitions for the local elections. Registration was denied to
five parties and one coalition. Local coalitions and
independent-candidate nomination committees are registered by
the municipal election commissions. All seven parties
represented in the present Parliament are running, but even the
parties in the power-sharing coalition of GERB and the United
Patriots have candidates pitted against each other in most
places.

To qualify for election as municipal councillor or mayor, a
candidate must be a Bulgarian citizen, be aged 18 by polling
day, be not interdicted, not serve a custodial sentence, and
have resided in the respective settlement at least during the
last six months preceding polling day (i.e. since April 26,
2019). EU Member State citizens, too, may run for municipal
councillor (but not for mayor) if they are aged 18 by polling
day, are not interdicted, do not serve a custodial sentence,
enjoy a durable or permanent residence status for Bulgaria, have
 resided in the respective settlement at least during the last
six months preceding polling day, and are not deprived of the
right to elect in the Member State of their nationality.

Registered candidates for the 2019 local elections total 36,251
(down from 48,084 in 2015), of whom 1,254 for mayors of the 265
municipalities (an average of 4.7 per position), 5,041 for
mayors of the 1,968 mayoralties, 463 for mayors of the 35
boroughs (24 in Sofia, six in Plovdiv and five in Varna), and
29,493 for 5,178 municipal councillor seats (including eight
nationals of five other EU Member States: Romania, the UK,
Poland, the Netherlands and Greece). The figures do not add up
to the total because one person may run simultaneously for mayor
 and councillor. The municipal council size varies by
population, from 11 for municipalities with fewer than 5,000
residents to 61 for the most populous municipality (Sofia City).

The largest number of candidates for municipality mayor, 20, has
 been registered in Sofia, followed by 14 for Plovdiv,
Blagoevgrad and Shoumen (13 each), and 11 for Varna. There is a
single candidate for mayoralty mayor in 397 mayoralties.

In 2019, the municipality mayoral candidates include a dozen
incumbent MPs: of BSP for Bulgaria (Deputy Floor Leader Vessela
Lecheva for Veliko Turnovo, Anelia Klissarova for Varna, Nikolai
 Tishev for Bourgas, Kolyo Milev for Sliven, Pencho Milkov for
Rousse, Stanislav Vladimirov for Pernik), of Ataka (party leader
 Volen Siderov for Sofia), of VMRO (Milen Mihov for Veliko
Turnovo), of the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria
(Slavcho Hristov for Plovdiv), and of Volya (Plamen Hristov for
Sofia); an incumbent Member of the European Parliament (Angel
Dzhambazki of VMRO/European Conservatives and Reformists Group,
for Sofia); two incumbent regional governors (both of GERB:
Miroslav Petrov for Pleven and Zdravko Dimitrov for Plovdiv); a
former National Ombudsman (independent Maya Manolova, for
Sofia); popular actor Toncho Tokmakchiev (Greens Party, for
Sofia), communist dictator Todor Zhivkov's grandson Todor
Slavkov (Forward Bulgaria Movement, for Sofia), and shady
businessman and showman Dimitar Marinov (aka "Mityo the Big
Gun") (Bulgarian National Unity, for Veliko Turnovo). An Eastern
 Orthodox priest, Father Lyubomir Purvanov, is running for mayor
 of Vurshets despite an express prohibition by the Holy Synod
but will not be defrocked because he has applied to be released
from holy orders.

The Secret Files Commission announced the affiliation with the
Communist-era secret services of 139 mayoral candidates, mostly
in small settlements (29 of BSP for Bulgaria, 23 of GERB, 17 of
the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, 11 of VMRO, 3 of Volya and
 2 of the Union of Democratic Forces). At least five
municipality mayoral candidates have issues with the law:
Ventsislav "The Chicago" Angelov (for Rousse) was recently
released from prison after serving time for drugs trafficking;
Tsenko Chokov (for Byala Slatina) is appealing a 4.5 year prison
 sentence for kidnapping, assault and arson committed in his
former capacity as mayor of the Galiche Village; Ivailo Drazhev
(for Bourgas) has been imprisoned for causing death in a road
traffic accident; Dessislava Ivancheva (for Sofia) has been
sentenced to 20 years in prison by a first-instance court for
bribery as mayor of Sofia's Mladost Borough); Plamen Hristov
(for Sofia) has been charged with extortion. Nessebur's
incumbent Mayor Nikolai Dimitrov, who is seeking a fourth term
as an independent with backing from the Bulgarian Socialist
Party, was arrested on October 22 and charged as a mastermind of
 a five-member vote-buying criminal group, consisting of three
municipal councillor candidates for Nessebur and Atanas
Yapadjiev, who is running for mayoralty mayor of nearby Sveti
Vlas. The five candidates are in custody and will be unable to
vote on Sunday but nevertheless remain in the race.

The election system for municipal councillors is
semi-proportional with a single transferable vote. Candidates
are nominated by parties and coalitions on candidate lists, and
independent candidates are nominated by nomination committees.
They are registered in a multi-member constituency coextensive
with the respective municipality. The voting results are
determined according to the Hare-Niemeyer Method: the number of
Municipal Council seats is divided by the total number of valid
votes to obtain the number of seats to be allocated to the party
 or coalition. The allocation of seats is limited to the parties
 and coalitions which have gained valid votes not less than the
municipal electoral quota (the total number of valid votes cast
for municipal councillors in the municipality divided by the
number of Municipal Council members). The number of seats
allocated to parties and coalitions equals the number of
Municipal Council members less the number of elected independent
 candidates. Pre-term Municipal Council vacancies are filled by
substitutes ranked next on the respective party list (the seats
of councillors elected as independent candidates remain vacant).

Mayors are elected according to a two-round majoritarian system
from candidate lists registered by parties, coalitions and
independent candidates registered by nomination committees in
single-member constituencies, coextensive with the respective
municipality, borough or mayoralty. A candidate must receive
more than 50 per cent of the valid votes cast to be elected in
the first round. Failing this, the top two candidates contest a
second round which is scheduled by the municipal election
commission for a non-working day within seven days (usually on
the following Sunday - in this case November 3), and the
candidate who gains the most valid votes wins. Pre-term mayoral
vacancies are filled by by-elections.

The local elections are administrated by the Central Election
Commission (CEC), 264 municipal election commissions, and one
section election commission per voting section.

Polling Day and Post-Election Arrangements

On Sunday, the polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and will close at
8:00 p.m. By exception, if voters are still waiting outside the
polling site at 8:00 p.m., voting may continue until 9:00 p.m.

Balloting will take place in some 11,866 voting sections in
Bulgaria only. A total of 181 movable election commissions will
be available.
Separate mark-choice white paper ballots are used for municipal
councillors and for municipality, borough and mayoralty mayors
(one for each of the three types). The ballots are folded and
deposited in a transparent ballot box without an envelope.
Solely an "X" or a "V" sign, made using a ballpoint pen writing
in blue ink in the square with the one- or two-digit sequential
number of the party or coalition and its respective mayoral
candidate, an independent candidate, or in the "None Of The
Above" square, validly expresses the voter's choice. On the
municipal councillor ballots, voters may also express a single
preference for a particular candidate, by making an "X" or a "V"
 sign in a circle showing the candidate's three-digit number on
the list. To be moved up on the list, such a candidate must get
more than 7 per cent of the votes cast for the candidate list.

A total of 17,257,800 ballots have been printed for these
elections: 6,900,600 for municipal councillors, 6,900,600 for
municipality mayors, 1,858,100 for borough mayors, and 1,598,500
 for mayoralty mayors.

Voters will have to mark and cast between two and four different
 ballots for the 2019 local elections. The largest number
(four): one for municipality mayor, one for borough mayor, one
for mayoralty mayor and one for municipal councillors, will
apply in the 32 villages with mayoralty status in Sofia
Municipality.

Exit poll results may not be made public and commented on by
politicians, pollsters and journalists before 8:00 p.m. on
Sunday.

Section commissions have to count the votes, prepare the tally
sheets and deliver them to the municipal commissions within 24
hours after the close of the polls. Municipal commissions must
determine and declare the voting results in the municipality
within 48 hours after the close of the polls. Within the same
time limit, the municipal commissions must scan and send their
tally sheets to the CEC and publish them on their websites.

Seven Bulgarian non-governmental organizations will monitor
Sunday's elections, helped by 2,137 observers in aggregate. Two
foreign organizations have registered observation missions with
a total of 21 observers: the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black
 Sea Economic Cooperation (three observers) and the Tallinn City
 Office, Estonia (18 observers). Five organizations have been
denied registration.

Eight agencies have registered to conduct exit polls on polling
day: Sova 5, Gallup International Balkan, Alpha Research, AFIS,
Trend, the Exacta Research Group, Strategic Analysis and
Marketing, and Market LINKS.

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