Elections

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is about to complete drafting bills to amend the Election Law and Law on Political Parties which foresee reducing the current 10 percent election threshold to 7 percent, daily Milliyet has reported.

About 1,000 additional voting machines will have to be secured for the early parliamentary elections on July 11, the Central Election Commission (CEC) told a news briefing on Thursday. According to CEC spokesperson Rositsa Mateva, the voting machines secured for the local elections and by-elections can be used on July 11 or, in case of ballotage, there is an option for software updates.

The Central Election Commission has announced a list of places abroad where polling stations will operate during the snap parliamentary elections on July 11, and their estimated number of polling stations. A decision was made according to the places abroad where at least one polling station was formed after July 11, 2016 and not less than 100 citizens voted, BNR reporter Maria Kostova informed.

After Slovenian MPs failed to approve the agenda for a week-long parliamentary session on Monday, the opposition renewed its call for early elections.

"Calls for parliamentary elections will be more frequent and louder," political scientist Alem Maksuti told BIRN.

The preparation of the parliamentary elections on July 11 will cost BGN 57.1 million, announced after today's meeting of the Council of Ministers the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev.

The funds have been approved, which includes providing necessary conditions for 500 sections abroad.

The new chairman of the Central Election Commission, Kamelia Neykova, hopes the CEC will not be held hostage between battles in parliament.

At its first meeting on Wednesday, the legal committee of the new Bulgarian Parliament took up proposed changes in the election legislation - a total of six bills - and a draft moratorium on some decisions made by the outgoing government.

Ljubljana – The Constitutional Court has cleared an act securing EUR 780 million in investments in the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) until 2026 as well as parliament’s decision not to allow a referendum on the act sought by the centre-left opposition.

Bulgaria's April 4 2021 parliamentary elections headed into the final stretch ahead of polls closing at 8pm, with problems with voting machines reported from various places, allegations of vote-buying, websites penalised for illegally publishing exit polls and indications on strong interest in voting abroad.

On April 4, the polling stations in Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand opened first to start off the vote for the 45th National Assembly.