site.btaBulgarians Vote in Local Elections and National Referendum on Sunday

Bulgarians Vote in Local Elections and National Referendum on Sunday

Sofia, October 25 (BTA) - Bulgarians are going to the polls on Sunday to elect their local government and vote in a referendum on the introduction of remote electronic voting. The polls opened at 6:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m. By exception, if voters are still waiting outside the polling site at 7:00 p.m., voting may continue until 8:00 p.m.

Balloting is taking place in 12,314 voting sections in Bulgaria only.

Exit poll results may not be made public and commented on by politicians, pollsters and journalists before 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.

These are the country's first local elections governed by the new Election Code (adopted in March 2014 and last amended in November 2014).

According to official figures, eligible voters for the 2015 local elections number 6,363,761 (including 523 nationals of other EU Member States resident in Bulgaria who declared their desire to vote).

The Central Election Commission has registered 71 parties and three coalitions for the local elections.

Registered candidates total 42,702, of whom 1,605 for mayors of the 265 municipalities, 10,072 for mayors of the 3,192 mayoralties, 696 for mayors of the 35 boroughs in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, and 35,771 for municipal councillors (including five nationals of other EU Member States).

The largest number of municipality mayoral candidates, 21, has been registered in Sofia, while there is just a single candidate in Simitli and Dolna Banya.

Fourteen Bulgarian non-governmental organizations are monitoring the elections with the help some 4,400 observers. Two foreign organizations have registered observation missions with a total of 29 observers: the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kosovo (7 observers) and the Danish non-governmental organization Support Initiative for Liberty and Democracy (SILBA) (22 observers).

Eight agencies have registered to conduct exit polls on polling day: Gallup International, Alpha Research, the Exacta Research Group, AFIS, the Institute for Social Surveys and Marketing MBMD, Market LINKS, the Citizens Initiative for Free and Democratic Elections, and Sova-5.

National Referendum

The national referendum that is taking place Sunday simultaneously with the local elections will be the first one since 2013.

Initiated by President Rosen Plevneliev, the referendum will ask Bulgarians one question: "Do you favour the possibility to vote remotely by electronic means as well in elections and referendums?"

Balloting for the referendum outside Bulgaria will take place between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time in 294 voting sections in 45 countries worldwide.

In Bulgaria, voting will be conducted in the same sections as the local elections. A total of 6,885,893 Bulgarian citizens, resident in this country and abroad, are eligible to vote in the referendum.

Seven Bulgarian non-governmental organizations will monitor the voting in the national referendum, plus the two foreign organizations which deploy observation missions for the local elections.

Five agencies have registered with the CEC to conduct exit polls on the day of the referendum: Gallup International, Alpha Research, AFIS, the Institute for Social Surveys and Marketing MBMD, and Market LINKS.

A total of 13,155 police officers are ensuring law and order at the elections.