site.btaCentral Election Commission Chair Comments on June 9 Voting Arrangements

Interviewed on Bulgarian National Radio Sunday morning, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chair Kamelia Neykova discussed the preparations for the June 9, 2024 European and national parliamentary elections.

Neykova said that out of 23 parties and 11 coalitions that applied for participation in the elections, 22 parties and 11 coalitions have been registered and the registration one party (Ataka) has been stricken because the number of signatures it submitted proved to be below the 2,500 minimum required by the Election Code. All contestants wish to enter both kinds of elections with the exception of one party (Republicans for Bulgaria) and one coalition (Neutral Bulgaria), which will run in the early parliamentary elections only.

The contestants have until May 7 to register their candidate lists: at the CEC for MEP candidates and at the competent constituency election commission for MP candidates. One and the same candidate may run in both types of elections but, if elected, they must state where they wish to serve.

For the first time since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, members of the European Parliament and of the National Assembly will be elected simultaneously. Unlike the national parliamentary elections, residence qualifications apply for voters in the European elections, who must have a permanent and present address registration in Bulgaria or in another EU Member State and a permanent address registration in Bulgaria, the CEC Chair explained.

The municipal administrations will make public the electoral rolls on April 29, and voters will be able to check whether they are listed for the two types of elections, Neykova pointed out.

Voting abroad will take place for both the European Parliament and the National Assembly in the EU Member States and at the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions in third countries. Elsewhere in non-EU countries, voting will be conducted for the national parliament only. To be eligible to vote abroad, voters must have a present address in the EU by March 9, 2024.

The CEC Chair said that paper ballots of different colours will be used for the two types of elections so as to prevent confusion. Separate machine-voting ballots will be printed out one after the other for each type of election.

Neykova hopes that, unlike the local elections in 2023, this time there will be no problems with the voting machines' certification. The Ministry of Electronic Governance, the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization and the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology are ready to carry out the certification much earlier, but it all depends on the public procurement for which a contractor has yet to be selected. She expects that this will happen early next week. Ciela Norma is the only company that has tendered for the award.

Work is underway on a proposal by the Public Council with the CEC to launch a more up-to-date interactive campaign on social media to attract more young people to go to the polls on June 9, the interviewee said.