Instant-runoff voting

Ireland's European parliament elections finally concluded early Friday with all 14 seats filled after a marathon five-day count — the longest in the 27-member bloc.

The governing centre-right parties Fine Gael, led by Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris, and Fianna Fail led by deputy premier Micheal Martin won four seats each.

 During a meeting between President Rumen Radev and the CEC leadership, CEC Chairman Andreev commented, that this cannot be done with an extended interpretation of the Electoral Code.

Conclusion of all was that the voting of the isolated voters with coronavirus cannot be regulated without changes in the Electoral Code.

The Parliament has restored the previous barrier in preferential voting, Focus News Agency reports. The threshold in preferential voting in local and general elections will be 7%, and that in European elections - 5%. Thus, the MPs revoked the higher thresholds adopted through amendments to the Electoral Code on February 14, 2019 that caused public discontent.

Bulgarians who will vote in the country in the snap parliamentary elections on March 26 will be able to note their preference for a candidate for parliamentary deputy on the list of the preferred political formation but Bulgarians voting abroad will not be able to do so.

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.

Fifty-eight percent of Bulgarian voters plan to cast ballots in the local elections on 25 October, a new poll showed on Tuesday.