site.btaCEC Registration of Parties, Coalitions for Participation in Local Elections Starts on September 4

The registration of parties and coalitions at the Central Election Commission (CEC) for participation in the local elections on October 29 will start at 9:30 am on September 4, CEC spokesperson Rositsa Mateva said at a briefing on Thursday. The deadline for registration is 17:00 on September 13. 

She noted that if they are not registered with the CEC as parties and coalitions, the formations cannot register for the local elections in the municipal election commissions (MECs).

Mateva pointed out that some 160 MECs have already been appointed, with an agreement on the composition reached by the political parties. No agreement has been reached regarding 84 commissions - CEC will decide on their composition.
The MECs will become operational on September 9, Mateva stated. She explained that the MECs should determine the number of mandates of the municipal councillors. “On October 29, we will elect 265 municipal mayors, while at the moment their exact number is unknown, Mateva noted. She said the number of borough mayors is 24 for Sofia, 3 for Plovdiv and 5 for Varna.

The local elections are the elections with the largest organization, said CEC Chair Kamelia Neykova. She assured that the preparations at the CEC are going smoothly, according to the plan and the adopted timetable.

The software for the voting machines needs to be upgraded, Mateva pointed out. She explained that when the software was bought, the Electoral Code did not provide for machine voting for local elections. She said this did not mean that there would be no machine voting in the October elections.

Mateva pointed out that the CEC is in continuous correspondence with the creator of the software and a meeting was held. She added that the CEC had sent the technical requirements regarding the software. In most town halls voting will be done with three ballots, in some places with four, she explained. 

Asked how much it would cost to upgrade the software, Mateva said she was waiting for an answer on that question and that there would be a separate procurement for that.