Austria, Switzerland and Norway have Not Allowed the Opening of Polling Stations for Bulgaria’s Elections

The sections outside Bulgaria will be between 730 and 740, predicts the chairman of the "Elections" working group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kalin Anastasov.

During a ministry briefing, he stated that elections on April 2 will be held on the territory of 62 countries. The most sections are expected to be opened in Turkey - over 160, UK - 115, 74 in Germany, 64 - Spain and 56 - USA.

Today, at a Central Election Committee meeting, the deputy chairman of the election commission, Tsvetozar Tomov, said that at the moment, three countries - Austria, Switzerland and Norway - have not given permission to open sections. The CEC is expected to announce the opening of sections there on condition to wait for approval. If such is not granted, our compatriots in these countries will not be able to vote.

Anastasov added that our compatriots abroad submitted 47,389 voting applications for the vote. There is a 10% drop from the 2022 election. The drop is significantly greater compared to the April 4, 2021 vote of 40%. According to him, about 60% of the submitted applications go to the polls on the day of the vote. It is noteworthy that 80% of all those who voted in the sections abroad were people added to the lists at the day of voting. The trend is expected to continue on April 2.

Anastasov also stated that the members of the Sectional Election Committees outside the country will be about 4,100 people. According to the changes in the Electoral Code, in each of them there must be at least one civil servant or person on a labor contract in the state administration. For this purpose, 520 civil servants will be sent from Bulgaria.