Lower voter turnout among Bulgarians abroad

Bulgarians abroad will vote in the parliamentary and presidential elections in 760 polling stations in a total of 68 countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. Machine voting will be held in not less than 200 of the stations, Ivan Kondov, chairman of the ministry's "Elections" working group said. According to him, the opening of more polling stations abroad has not led to higher turnout.

About 56,000 applications were submitted for the vote on November 14, while in the previous elections during the year their number was respectively 70,000 and 80,000. The biggest challenge of the upcoming vote will be the vote in the second round, Kondov added. According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have to send ballots and machines again, but it is not clear whether they would reach all polling stations in time. That is why the ministry has been calling on the future parliament to adopt legislative changes that allow voting by mail. /BGNES