Patriotic Front: Bulgaria Should Introduce Mandatory Voting

Voting should be made compulsory as early as in 2015, the co-chair of nationalist coalition Patriotic Front has said.

Valeri Simeonov, who heads the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), one of the two big parties within the Front, reminded the issue had been discussed with the ruling parties GERB and Reformist Bloc (RB) and should not be interpreted as a fresh ultimatum to the government.

Local elections are scheduled for the autumn of 2015.

Simeonov's comments follow talks on Friday with the junior coalition partner RB which resulted in concessions for the Patriots, who had previously threatened to withdraw their support for the government.

The nationalist coalition was then granted the right to appoint a Deputy Defense Minister and Deputy District Governor of Sofia after having insisted for months it did not want to participate in the government and would only back a minority cabinet instead.

Making it obligatory to cast a ballot is an idea which was first tabled by former socialist chairman Sergey Stanishev, who said in July his (then co-ruling) party could discuss the step after its poor showing in the European elections on May 25. The proposal was however dismissed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), the junior coalition partner at that time.

A few months later, both parties and experts in Bulgaria are divided over the introduction of compulsory voting. Experts who are skeptical about the move put special emphasis on the impossibility of organizing the vote for expats, especially if ballots cannot be cast online.

Also on Saturday, reports by the Bulgarian daily Trud suggested that the ruling axis is also considering a move toward mandatory voting, but rather believes a...