site.btaHow Politicians Voted

After casting their ballot in the local election runoff on Sunday, political leaders and figures made the following comments:

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov: "I voted for a European modern capital as Sofia should be," he told reporters. Asked about problems with voting machines across the country on Sunday, Denkov said that the problems are a result of the poor coordination between the institutions and namely the responsibilities of the Central Election Commission. “When the elections are over, we should raise the question how to restore trust in the election process,” he added. Denkov urged people to vote regardless of whether with paper ballot and machines.

President Rumen Radev: He called for an in-depth analysis of everything that has happened in these elections, so that mistakes are not repeated. "We need to identify the failings which led to such a low voter turnout," he told reporters. The President urged the institutions to do everything to restore public confidence in political elections, including machine voting. "This is extremely important because machines have proven effective in limiting invalid votes and minimizing the absurdities in filling out tally sheets," he argued. He sees a need for changes to the Election Code which should be aimed at bringing the election process to light. "I voted for a decent future for Sofia and a responsible governance of the capital," the President said. He cautioned voters against allowing themselves to be isolated from the election process. "We should vote on a mass scale, because the vote of each of us matters for our own future, our community, and Bulgaria," he said.

Vice President Iliana Iotova: "I voted for a strong person who has opinions and is not afraid to speak about the most far-reaching problems and to give proposals," she told reporters. According to her, the low voter turnout is due to mistrust in the political system and this is the biggest challenge before politicians. The people are disappointed. They saw that whatever the messages, the biggest opponents shook hands for the sake of being in power, said the Vice President. 

GERB leader Boyko Borissov told journalists he had fulfilled his promise. "I see that the [voting] machines are breaking down mostly in Sofia and Varna, because that is one of the schemes: if a machine supposedly breaks down, if there is a duplicate, they can manipulate the slips [issued by the machine upon voting]," he argued. "I see that they have new mates, they better pay attention to whom they are playing with, they better not say afterwards that [President Rumen] Radev is the bad guy," Borissov commented, adding that it will become clear later what the consequences for the cities are. "What do those who talk about the voter turnout expect it to be, given that three years ago they raised the fists and made the parties hate each other," he also commented. "They think that when they table in Parliament the package of tax bills, which will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday, we will support them. That will not happen," the GERB leader said firmly.

Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) co-leader Kiril Petkov: "I expect higher voter turnout," he told reporters. "I believe in Sofianites, I believe in our city and I think that it is impossible for Sofianites not to choose the future of a European capital," he also said. Of support by GERB-UDF, Petkov said that he commends GERB leader Boyko Borissov for making the right choice at the end of the campaign.

CC-DB co-leader Hristo Ivanov: "I voted for a modern and European Sofia which will develop fast and fulfil its huge potential, which doesn’t look back but looks ahead," he told journalists. He said that vote will determine the direction in which the city and the country will develop and urged people to vote. “We’ll have to have a conversation on how we can guarantee machine voting and machine counting of votes,” he said, approached about the need to amend the Election Code. He said that this is called for by the war against machine voting and longtime attempts to discredit it.

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Kornelia Ninova told journalists: "I voted to see that, starting tomorrow, Sofia is governed in a different way, transparently, with decisions made in front of Sofianites, not somewhere in the dark." She added that she voted for a clean, orderly, safe and peaceful Sofia, a socially sensitive municipal government and a city in which the people living on the outskirts have the same living conditions as those in the city centre. Ninova described the low turnout in the two rounds of voting as a bad sign. "The apathy and the reluctance to vote are lending our institutions low legitimacy. Huge efforts will be needed to restore public confidence in the voting process," she said. "Go out and vote for the candidate you like, just do it!" she urged Bulgarians. Asked to comment on last Sunday's tampering with ballots, Ninova said everyone who has compromised the fair election process must be held responsible or even criminally liable.

Sofia mayoral candidate Vanya Grigorova (BSP - Sofia, The Left): "I voted for a free and democratic city," she told journalists. She also said she voted for a city free of corporate dependencies, where everyone is free to be themselves without fear. “We should take things in our hands, understand what democracy is and reject kleptocracy,” she noted. She urged people to vote because the city's governance in the next four years depends on them.

Sofia mayoral candidate Vassil Terziev (CC-DB, Save Sofia): "I rely on the votes of Sofianites who see in my nomination a better way to give an impetus to this city," he told journalists. According to Terziev the stakes are high because the vote will determine who will govern the city in the next four years and 22 of the boroughs in Sofia. He urged Sofianites to vote. Terziev said that if he is elected one of the bad practices he will remove is to favour borough mayors.