site.btaCentral Election Commission Shows Paper and Electronic Ballots for Oct. 27 Elections

The Central Election Commission (CEC) showed samples of the paper and electronic ballots for the early parliamentary vote on October 27.

A total of 28 parties and coalitions have been registered, as well as one independent candidate in Pleven, recalled CEC Deputy Chair and spokesperson Rositsa Mateva.

The ballot containing the most preferential candidates will be in Sofia's 23rd multi-member constituency, Mateva explained. She said that candidate lists from all 28 parties and coalitions were registered in 10 regions of the country, and the rest will contain 26-27 candidate lists.

Mateva also demonstrated how the machine voting will take place. She urged the voters not to pull the machine ballot out, but to wait for the sound signal. 

Regarding election protocols, Mateva noted that the CEC believes that if there is no hurry in filling out the protocols, there is no reason to make mistakes. She explained that the protocol is the same that was used in previous elections and added that there are indicative texts in the protocols themselves. Mateva pointed out that the organizational and technical preparation is going normally.

She recalled that Bulgarian voters can state that they wish to vote abroad until Tuesday, October 1. As of 1:30 pm, 28,000 applications were submitted. Until the end of October 1, the Bulgarian communities can make proposals for the sections abroad to the diplomatic and consular representations, she added. By October 5, the CEC should determine the places in the countries where sections will be opened, as well as their number.

The CEC spokesperson added that the deadline for the registration of representatives of parties, coalitions, non-governmental organizations, nomination committees who want to participate in the process of certifying the conformity of the machines and software, is October 2.

By October 12, voters who wish to vote at their current address should submit an application to do so. October 12 is also the deadline for submitting applications for voting in mobile polling stations for people with permanent disabilities.