Machine voting in Sofia may be suspended. This was announced by the Municipal Election Commission before noon.
The reason is that in almost all areas, the machines do not issue receipts or give crushed ones.
In many places, voters say that they wished to cast their vote for both elections – for the mayor of the capital and for the mayor of a region, but subsequently only a part of the receipt comes out, not the whole. There is such a case in the 51st school.
There are still non-working machines in “Triaditsa”, “Izgrev”, “Vazrazhdane”, “Krasna Polyana” and “Kremikovtsi”. The Municipal Electoral Commission in Sofia says that they are awaiting instructions from the CEC on how to proceed from here on.
As of 12:00 p.m., voter turnout in Sofia, according to data from the municipal election commission, was 6.5%. At the time of the first round, it was 8.5%.
In 107 school in the “Lozenets” district, there was a problem with the machine in section 20. According to the chairmen of the committees, there were emotional outbursts on the part of voters who threw receipts on the ground, tore them, as it was not possible to exercise their vote.
CEC: As of 11:00 a.m., voter turnout was 9.18%
Both in the first round and today at the runoff, the members of the sectional commissions came on time and in a good mood. All machines and paper ballots were checked.
“I think it started normally, the machine is working, we have enough ballots, and the mood is like for work,” said Vladimir Kolev, chairman of the SEC.
In front of each section, you can find sample ballots for both the mayor of the region and the mayor of a municipality.
And besides the expectations of sunny weather, the members of the sectional commissions also hope for a higher turnout.
“I can expect a slightly higher turnout, but I’m not convinced of that. Last weekend we reached 40%, now some 5 above, maybe”, commented Vladimir Kolev.
The first people who wanted to increase voter turnout were the artists. Among the early risers was the poet Valentina Tucheva.
“I came to vote because anyone who wants to should vote. I voted with a machine because I don’t believe in the human factor,” Tucheva said.
After the poet came the artist Tsvetelina Spiridonova.
“I travel 200 km because it is very important, I am tired of nothing happening in the country, and especially in Sofia,” she said.
Election day lasts until 20:00.
READ ALL ABOUT THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS HERE
