The Administrative Court in Montana confirmed the election of Zlatko Zhivkov as the mayor of Montana

The Administrative Court in Montana confirmed the decision of the Municipal Electoral Commission in the regional city, by which Zlatko Zhivkov was declared the mayor of the municipality of Montana, based on the result of the first round of the local elections on October 29, 2023.
The decision was appealed by the candidates Petar Petrov from PP “Vazrazhdane”, who came second, and Temenuzka Tsvetkova from the coalition “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria”. The complaints concerned the counting of votes in two polling stations in the “Kosharnik” district in Montana and in the village of Gabrovnitsa. In its reasons for the confirmed election of Zlatko Zhivkov as mayor of Montana, it is written that the violations found in the two mentioned sections did not lead to a change in the result of the vote.
The judge in the case, Sonia Kamarashka, allowed viewing of the video recordings of the counting of the ballots in several sectional election commissions in the municipality of Montana and a new counting in court of the ballots from the sections in the “Kosharnik” district and in the village of Gabrovitsa. During this counting, it was established that 481 votes were cast for the candidate Zlatko Zhivkov in Gabrovnica, and not 489, as reported in the protocol of the Sectional Election Commission. For the candidate Petar Petrov, 16 actual ballots were found, instead of the reported 14. In the “Kosharnik” district, 454 votes were cast for Zlatko Zhivkov, and not 463, as reported, but this does not change the result and the fact that in the first round of the local elections Zlatko Zhivkov received more than half of the votes cast. 11,701 voters voted for Zhivkov on October 29, and half of the votes in this turnout was 8,969 votes, the court’s decision in the case says.
Zlatko Zhivkov has been the mayor of Montana since 1999, winning the seventh consecutive term in the last local elections. Many of the residents of Montana associate with him the positive changes in the city and the municipality during these years.
The decision of the Administrative Court in Montana can be appealed within seven days before the Supreme Administrative Court in Sofia.