site.btaPreparations for October Elections Going Well, Coordinator Says

Election coordinator Rosen Karadimov said on Thursday that the preparations for the October 27 snap parliamentary elections are going normally. "We are definitely meeting the deadlines, the whole process is unfolding normally as regards the government's engagements about the material and technical procurement," said Karadimov, who is also caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth.

Karadimov gave a briefing after meeting earlier in the day with the regional governors of Southwestern Bulgaria and the directors of the territorial units of the General Directorate for Civil Registration and Administrative Services (GRAO) in that part of the country.

According to him, relations with the Central Election Commission in the lead-up to the vote are very good. He noted that the government has initiated additional measures to ensure that the elections will be transparent. "We are willing to support any measures that ensure the transparency of the election process and the trust of the citizens," Karadimov said.

He remarked: "Low voter turnout is partly due to compromises with the transparency of the election process. I am not saying that I have any doubts about the measures taken so far, but we want to upgrade them and add more substance to them."

Discussing the presence of "zombie voters" on voters' lists, the coordinator said this calls for a legislative solution. "There is no way that the problem can be resolved by GRAO, by the government. It requires a willingness and a change to a law, which is entirely within the powers of the National Assembly."

Sofia City Governor Stefan Arsov said everything is going well in the capital and the election process has been provided for. Sofia Region Governor Silvia Arnautska said that everything within the competence of her office has so far been fulfilled on schedule.