Bulgaria's Early Parliamentary Elections: What Voters Should Know

On October 27, 2024, Bulgarians will head to the polls for early parliamentary elections. These are the seventh such elections in the last three years and the second to take place in 2024, following the June 9 vote, which coincided with the European Parliament elections. Voters will elect 240 national representatives to the 51st National Assembly, with the election taking place across 31 multi-mandate constituencies (MIRs). These constituencies align with Bulgaria's administrative regions, except for Sofia-city, which is split into three, and Plovdiv, divided into two.

The interim government led by Dimitar Glavchev is responsible for organizing these elections, with Atanas Ilkov serving as the new interior minister, replacing Kalin Stoyanov, who is now running as a candidate from DPS-New Beginning. The government has allocated a budget of approximately 100 million leva for the elections, slightly more than the 98 million leva spent during the combined elections in June 2024. Over the last three years, Bulgaria has spent nearly half a billion leva on its frequent elections.

According to Bulgarian law, voting is mandatory for all citizens aged 18 and over, excluding those under interdiction or serving a prison sentence. However, the Constitutional Court abolished the penalties for non-participation in 2017, so there are no consequences for not voting. The election process will be mixed, using both paper ballots and machines. Paper ballots will be used in smaller polling stations (with fewer than 300 voters), in specialized institutions like medical facilities and detention centers, as well as in cases where a mobile ballot box is used.

Voting will take place between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., and may extend to 9:00 p.m. if there are voters waiting...