site.btaVoting Machines to Be Available in 130 Polling Stations Across 20 Countries, CEC Chair Says

Voting machines will be available in 130 polling stations across 20 countries, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chair Kameliya Neykova said during a meeting between President Iliana Iotova and the institutions responsible for organizing the early parliamentary elections. 

Neykova explained that the machines have been distributed to locations where higher voter turnout is expected.

Earlier in the day, the CEC granted staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs access to the warehouse where the machines are stored, so that the process of handing them over can be organized Wednesday or Thursday, she added.

Neykova noted that Bulgarian citizens abroad have shown twice as much interest compared to the elections at the end of 2024, with particularly high numbers of applications submitted in the United Kingdom. She expressed hope that this interest would translate into actual voter participation and higher turnout than in 2024. 

She also said that an electoral map of polling stations will be published.

CEC Deputy Chair Rositsa Mateva stated that six legal cases had been filed against the Commission’s decision on overseas polling stations, but all complaints have been dismissed.