Bulgaria elects in the second round: We vote in a runoff in 19 regional cities – Elections

Bulgarians elect a local government in the second round. According to CEC data, voting will take place today in about 7,250 sections, and in 5,900 of them – by machines. We will elect 91 mayors of municipalities, 451 mayors of town halls and 31 mayors of districts. There will be runoffs between three candidates in 4 town halls.

There will be a runoff in the regional cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Blagoevgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kyustendil, Lovech, Pazardzhik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Haskovo and Shumen. 6,380 million Bulgarians have the right to vote.

A run-off is reached if one of the candidates for mayor receives less than 50% of the vote of the voters in the relevant settlement. When no one gets more than half of the actual votes in the first round, a second round is scheduled after 7 days. The two contenders with the highest results from the first vote take part in it.

Election day starts at 07:00 and ends at 20:00. If there are people waiting in front of the sections after this hour, voting can be extended, but by a maximum of one hour – until 21:00.

Who is eligible to vote?

According to the Election Code, Bulgarian citizens who have reached the age of 18, are not placed under interdiction and are not serving a prison sentence have the right to vote. Bulgarian citizens with address registration at a permanent and current address on the territory of the country at least six months before the election day have the right to vote. With a current address outside the country, Bulgarian citizens cannot vote in local elections. Those voters who acquired electoral rights between the first and the second round will be able to vote, incl. have reached the age of majority. Excluded are those who have lost voting rights.

How will we vote?

Unlike the first round of local elections, this Sunday voters will be able to vote either by paper ballot or by machine.

Paper ballots – a member of the SEC tears the ballot from the cob and puts a stamp on its back. You vote for the party, coalition, local coalition or independent candidate of your choice by marking your choice behind the screen in the box numbered with an “X” or a “V” with a blue pen. If you wish, you can also mark a preference in the circle. You fold the ballot and hand it to a committee member. He places a second seal and tears off the stub. You drop it into the transparent box.

Machine voting – if you choose to vote by machine, you must insert the card given to you by the SIC official into the slot. You mark the types of elections in which you will vote and confirm. You mark your vote on the relevant electronic ballot and vote. Bulletins for the mayor of a municipality, district and town hall are printed simultaneously and consecutively. After you hear the beep, you pick up the ballots and check your vote. You hand them to a SIC member who stamps each one and drop them into the box.

In local elections, you can vote with “I do not support anyone”, but the votes are counted only for the voter turnout and do not affect the calculation of the results of the vote.