Bulgaria Printhouses Call for Runoff Local Vote to Be Postponed

Printing houses licensed to produce ballot papers for the second round of local elections in Bulgaria have called on authorities to hold the vote a week later than planned.

In a letter cited by dailies Dnevnik.bg and 24 Chasa, they have warned that, with municipal election commissions having delayed the sending of specific data, it is not certain if the respective numbers of ballots can be printed in time.

Four days before the date when the runoff is scheduled - November 1, Sunday - printing houses have received only a third of sample ballots with candidate lists they need, the letter reads.

CEOs who signed the letter say their companies "cannot guarantee the printing and transportation of the ballots needed for the second round within the deadline stipulated by the law."

They suggest the local vote should be held on November 8, or a week later.

Ballot processing all around Bulgaria, and in Sofia in particular, was marked by a house which some attribute to flawed organization, and others to the holding of local elections and a referendum on e-voting simultaneously on October 25.

MPs have so far suggested the runoff date cannot be changed.