Elections in Bulgaria

From Euractiv

Much to the relief of the European liberal family, Delyan Peevski, a controversial candidate from the ALDE-affiliated “Movement of Rights and Freedoms” (DPS) announced during the election night that in spite of being elected, he would not take up his seat as MEP.

Bulgaria’s Central Electoral Commission has already handled 85% of the voting protocols of Sunday's European Elections.

According to the latest results, GERB keeps its leading position with 30.66% of the votes, followed by Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) with 18.98%.

The former journalist and current leader of Bulgaria Without Censorship (BWC) Nikolay Barekov was extremely satisfied with his results in the European elections.

The leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Sergey Stanishev admitted that he was unsatisfied with the election results.

BSP comes second in the European elections according to the preliminary results, lagging around 10% behind the leading GERB party.

The leader of the GERB party and former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov called on the government to resign following the European Elections.

GERB and Bulgaria Without Censorship could demand early elections after May 25 European elections, Gallup International's Dimitar Ganev said Sunday.

The voter turnout in the European elections in Bulgaria, as of 10 AM, is 6.88%, said the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). 

“The election process across the country is going smoothly and all polling stations are open,” said the CEC chairperson Alexander Andreev. 

The number of reported violations, according to Andreev, is insignificant. 

The MPs of the coalition partners Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) defeated the quorum for the no-confidence motion in Parliament. 

A total of five parties will make it into the European Parliament, with center-right opposition GERB to be first in the vote, a survey by polling agency Alpha Research argues.

The survey exploring electoral attitudes, made upon an order by Dnevnik.bg, shows that GERB has a clear lead on the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in the contest for Bulgaria's 17 MEP seats.

Voter turnout will be the decisive factor to determine which of the main parties, ruling BSP and the opposition GERB will win May 25's European elections, a recent poll shows.

According to the polling agency Gallup International, the two parties are running neck to neck, with support estimated between 500 000 and 600 000 for each of them.