Bulgaria elected local government with paper ballots after machine voting was canceled 30 hours before the start of election day.
Sofia is going to a runoff, and the battle in the capital is shaping up not for the first, but for the second place. Burgas, Stara Zagora and Ruse have elected mayors already in the first round, BGNES reported.
According to data from all sociological agencies in Sofia, Vasil Terziev leads. The big battle is for the second place between Vanya Grigorova from Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) - United Left and Anton Hekimyan from GERB-SDS.
From the regional cities, according to preliminary data, GERB-SDS won Burgas, Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Kyustendil, Pernik in the first round.
In Plovdiv, Varna and Veliko Tarnovo, the GERB-SDS candidates Kostadin Dimitrov, Ivan Portnih and Daniel Panov lead convincingly, and in Ruse - the BSP candidate and current mayor Pencho Milkov.
The data from the exit poll for mayor of Sofia:
"Trend": Vasil Terziev - 38.7%, Vanya Grigorova - 19.3%, Anton Hekimyan from 17.3%.
"Alfa Research": Vasil Terziev - 37%, Vanya Grigorova - 20.7%, Anton Hekimyan - 18.9%
Gallup: Vasil Terziev - 38%, Vanya Grigorova - 19.1%, Anton Hekimyan - 17%
The data from the exit poll for SOS:
"Trend": PP-DB - 40.5%, , GERB-SDS - 19.5%, BSP - 13%, "Revival" - 9.8%
"Alfa Research": PP-DB with 39.4%, GERB - 20.5%, BSP - 13.4%
Gallup: PP-DB with 40.6%, GERB – 19.2%, BSP – 12.7%
Voter turnout in the country as of 7 p.m. was 37%, according to Trend data. The highest voter turnout was in the Sofia village of Chelopech - 75.15%, and the lowest was in Dobrich - 23.18%.
The elections were held without serious violations. In some places the ballots had run out and new ballots had to be printed on a photocopier. The case of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Asen Vasilev, who failed to vote in Haskovo, is curious. The CEC explained that his current address is outside the country and he does not have electoral rights in Bulgaria.
How the politicians voted
Political figures exercised their right to vote on election day. The requests made in Sofia are for faster development of the city - a cleaner capital, renovated streets, without chaos, management with a lot of responsibility and a city free from the power of money.
The Central Election Commission's (CEC) decision to cancel machine voting is a leading topic today.
Vasil Terziev said that the way the machines were removed was scandalous, but he hoped for a high voter turnout. "Whether it's paper, parchment or stone, the responsibility is ours. I hope that the vote will not be tainted," he said, adding that he voted for a better and settled Sofia.
Vanya Grigorova voted for a city freed from the power of money. "I hope that the controversies about technology have not overshadowed the ideas and messages of the candidates. I urge everyone not to be a mute witness to what is happening in their lives,” she said.
Anton Hekimyan voted so that the chaos in Sofia and other municipalities would not be repeated. "I would have voted by machine if we hadn't lost confidence in this process." I want answers from the political persons who owe answers, but I have not heard it in the last 48 hours,” he added.
The Speaker of the Parliament, Rosen Zhelyazkov, called on the parties to sit down and talk about serious changes in the Electoral Code. "I voted for the development of the city in which I was born and in which I chose to live and work. I voted for the city to live up to its motto, what has been happening for the last 20 years," he stated.
The Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov stated that it will depend on the citizens how they will live in the next 4 years. "Today, people should be reassured that if they vote, their choice will be properly accounted for," the prime minister stressed.
The leader of GERB Boyko Borisov stated that he was pleased to win with machines, but the CEC made the right decision. "What happened in the last days is not good, we were most pleased to win with machines, only reprehensible things happened and I would visualize so that you understand me. You have a password on your phone and computer, how would you feel if someone wanted to copy your password. This is what they did in the last days, without his right after an order was issued that he can't take pictures, he goes and takes pictures with his phone, this apart from raising distrust in people, I'm not the one to characterize them as if he is only reprehensible or is it an intervention," added Borisov.
"We contonue the change - Democratic Bulgaria" co-chair Kiril Petkov emphasized that the more people vote today, the less the severity of electoral fraud will be. “Vote like machines even though you use paper, I loved that line today. The number of invalid ballots will be clearly reported and all Bulgarians will see what it means to return to paper voting again," he pointed out.
The co-chairman of the Democratic Bulgaria Hristo Ivanov stated that it will be necessary to reopen the Electoral Code. "Machine voting was abolished without argument, but regardless, we shouldn't let it demotivate people. Machine voting has been waged a long war by all parties, irresponsibly. Obviously, the Electoral Code will have to be opened again," Ivanov added.
According to Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Cornelia Ninova, the CEC has made its decision and they respect it. "The decision to cancel the machines has not had a heavy impact. The activity is slightly higher even. It is important that the election is fair and transparent, there is video surveillance, that the members of the Sectional Election Commission (SEC) keep it in mind if someone has decided to do something in the evening during the counting," she said, adding that the problem with the machines will not end with today's elections.
The election started at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m. In order to be elected mayor, the candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote of the voters in the respective settlement. If in the first round none of the candidates manages to gather the necessary support, there is a second round - the so-called runoff. Only the two contenders with the highest results from the first vote take part in it. The runoff takes place exactly one week after the first round - now the date is November 5. The local elections are held in two rounds, but the second is only for the mayoral lists and only if none of the candidates gathers the necessary support from more than 50% of the ballots cast. There is no runoff for the election of municipal councilors. The composition of the Municipal Council in the given settlement is finally elected on October 29. Elections for regional mayors are held only in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, as they are the only cities with regional divisions. /BGNES
