The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects a record number of polling stations abroad on July 11, 2021.
07 June 2021 News
The aim of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to provide the best possible conditions for fair and transparent elections for all Bulgarian citizens abroad who decide to exercise their right to vote.
This became clear from a briefing of the Permanent Secretary and Chairman of the Working Group "Elections" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ivan Kondov and the Deputy Chairman of the WG "Elections" Kalin Anastasov, who presented to the media up-to-date information on the organisation of elections abroad for the elections on July 11, 2021.
"A new record that these elections will set is that there will be a much larger number of sections than in the vote on April 4, 2021. With the changes in the Electoral Code, only the automatically opened sections are now 568. Our analysis shows that we will reach the opening of about 800 sections abroad,” said Ivan Kondov. According to him, this will have a positive aspect for Bulgarians abroad, as they will be able to vote more calmly. "We assume that the queues formed in the previous elections will no longer be a problem," he added.
To date, 37,000 applications for voting abroad have been submitted. "The CEC has decided to divide some of the large sections, where more than 700-800 people voted, into two or three. Thus, we sincerely believe that the voting conditions will be eased,“ Kondov said.
Currently, in the countries with large Bulgarian communities, the number estimated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the sections is as follows:
Great Britain - about 130 sections, of which 48 in London (with a total of 35 votes on April 4, 2021)
Germany - over 105 (69 on April 4)
Greece - over 29 (20 on April 4)
Spain - over 65 (53 on April 4)
Turkey - 105-110 (35 on April 4)
USA - over 53 (35 on April 4)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again calls on our compatriots abroad who wish to exercise their right to vote to take advantage of the opportunity to submit electronic applications through the CEC website.
The Deputy Chairman of the General Assembly "Elections" Kalin Anastasov stressed that the process of obtaining consent for the vote in July is proceeding normally, except for the Czech Republic, where talks are continuing in order to obtain consent to vote in sections outside our embassy.
The expected large number of sections, as well as the logistical organisation for sending the ballots and machines abroad, create challenges for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Kalin Anastasov, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on several tasks that can be solved only in close cooperation with the CEC:
- The staffing of the sectional election commissions abroad. To date, according to the analysis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 4,500 persons are needed to form about 740 sections. "We know from experience that political parties do not have the capacity to cover all seats, so the Foreign Ministry is ready to send about 350-400 people. Our foreign representations are in constant contact with the Bulgarian communities, from which we count on proposals to fill the remaining seats,” said Kalin Anastasov.
- Logistics for delivery of ballot papers and technical means for machine voting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready, if given a task by the CEC, to ensure the transport of voting machines abroad through diplomatic cargo.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects the CEC to determine the number of paper ballots that each SEC must have, regardless of whether it is designated for machine or paper voting. Currently, Article 209, Paragraph 3 of the Electoral Code stipulates that there must be as many ballots in a section as there are voters, and their number abroad cannot be determined in advance.
The leadership of the WG "Elections" expressed confidence that lasting solutions will be found to resolve the open issues in order to guarantee our compatriots’ constitutional right to vote abroad.
"We have created the necessary organiSation and we are confident that we will succeed," said Ivan Kondov, Chairperson of the Elections General Assembly.