MFA Provides Update on Organisation of Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Abroad
23 September 2026 News
At a briefing today, Radi Naydenov, Permanent Secretary and Chair of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Elections Working Group, together with the Working Group’s Deputy Chairs – Mr Georgi Georgiev, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Boryana Stoynova, Director of the Information and Communication Systems Directorate – provided an update on preparations for holding the forthcoming elections for President and Vice-President of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad on 25 October this year.
Radi Naydenov noted that the countries in which the elections are held can broadly be divided into two groups. The first comprises countries where notification of the holding of elections is required, i.e. Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions are required to inform the host country of the date on which Bulgarian citizens will vote. The second group comprises countries where prior authorisation is also required and the express consent of the host country must be obtained in order to establish section election commissions on its territory. Bulgaria’s diplomatic missions in these countries have already taken the necessary steps.
Boryana Stoynova added that, by a decision of 3 September, the Central Election Commission (CEC) had designated the locations which, at this stage, meet the requirements for the establishment of polling stations. These include Bulgarian diplomatic missions abroad and locations in EU Member States where at least 100 voters have cast their ballots in elections held over the past five years. She emphasised that, under the provisions of the Electoral Code, polling stations in countries outside the European Union cannot be established automatically on this basis, but only where at least 40 applications have been submitted and upon a proposal by the heads of the diplomatic and consular missions.
In this context, particular emphasis was placed on the possibility for Bulgarian citizens abroad to submit an electronic application to vote in advance through the official website of the CEC. The online application platform has been active for almost two weeks, and the deadline for submitting applications is 24:00 Bulgarian time on 29 September.
As at 11:00 on 23 September, 18,430 electronic applications had been registered from Bulgarian citizens wishing to exercise their right to vote abroad. The largest number of applications had been submitted for Türkiye (7,198), followed by the United Kingdom (2,956), Germany (1,420), the United States (1,326) and Spain (727). To date, 40 paper applications have been submitted to Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions for one polling station in Spain.
Once the deadline for submitting applications has expired and the applications have been processed, the CEC will announce the final list of locations abroad where polling stations will be established.
In this context, Permanent Secretary Radi Naydenov emphasised that, under the latest amendments to the Electoral Code, citizens who have not registered in advance must complete a declaration to participate in the elections in the presence of the members of the section election commission on election day. “In locations with larger numbers of voters, this will lead to delays and crowding. I would therefore like to call on our fellow Bulgarians abroad to take advantage of the opportunity to facilitate the voting process by submitting an electronic application in advance,” the Permanent Secretary said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is developing a logistical plan for transporting election papers, materials and voting machines to polling stations abroad, including those in more distant destinations such as Australia, South Africa, Argentina, the United States and Canada, as well as in the event of a possible second round.
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