site.btaLocal Elections Run-off: Voter Turnout Is 35.80% at 5:30 PM

Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - The country-wide voter turnout at 5.30 pm in Sunday's second round of local elections was 35.80 per cent, said Alexander Andreev, a member and spokesman for the Central Election Commission (CEC).

The CEC received 110 complaints and alerts by 6 pm on Sunday, said CEC spokesperson Tanya Tsaneva. She specified that seven were for vote buying and the rest for violations of election rights and the election process. Of the seven complaints five came from Sofia and one each from Dryanovo and Pleven.

Former Gurmen mayor and MP Ahmed Bashev has been arrested for 24 hours on suspicion of vote buying, Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov told journalists in Plovdiv. Another three persons have been detained in Gorna Oryahovitsa on the same charges, he added.

The authorities are yet to decide whether to press formal charges. DS/PP