Today, citizens of Bulgaria went to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years, with little hope for the formation of a stable government due to severe disagreements among the political elite regarding how to fight widespread corruption
Today, citizens of Bulgaria went to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years, with little hope for the formation of a stable government due to severe disagreements among the political elite regarding how to fight widespread corruption

Today, citizens of Bulgaria went to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years, with little hope for the formation of a stable government due to severe disagreements among the political elite regarding how to fight widespread corruption. With double-digit inflation and high energy prices, sustained political unrest might damage Bulgaria’s hopes to join the eurozone in 2024 and weaken Sofia’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine. The voting period lasts from 7 am to 8 pm, and preliminary official results are anticipated in the early hours of Monday.

The early election for parliament has 22 parties and 6 coalitions running. 6,624 candidates compete for seats in the National Assembly; 4,670 are men, while just 1,954 are women. A little more than 6.6 million voters will be involved in the contest. Voting is open to all Bulgarian citizens over 18, except those incarcerated or with a judicial impairment.

Voter turnout in Bulgaria was 3.6% at 9 am, lower than November 2021 parliamentary elections, when it was under 4%. Parvan Simeonov urged voters to ignore improvised results emerging in different media as data accumulations will become reliable in the early afternoon. By 11 am, 10.3% of eligible voters had cast votes, a higher turnover than in previous general elections in November 2021. The Central Election Commission reported that 22 polling devices had issues, and 10 machines were broken. Later, the commission decided to permit paper ballots to be used in these polling places.

In Turkish sectional committees for Bulgaria, where Turkish is spoken instead of Bulgarian, voting secrecy is violated. CEC had received reports related to the incident and already conveyed a warning to stop them. Almost 166 ballots were boxes established throughout the country. Young people were especially encouraged to vote to support the rights movement and do their part to maintain the stability of Bulgaria.