site.btaUPDATED Election Registration Opens with Single Coalition Filing on Day One

One coalition Tuesday submitted papers on the first day of registration of parties and coalitions for the snap parliamentary elections on April 19, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said. An hour before the end of the CEC working hours, there were zero registrations.

CEC opened the registrations at 9:30am.

Late on Tuesday, GERB-UDF said in a press release that the coalition will register on Wednesday.

The deadline for submitting applications is 5pm on March 4. Applications must be accompanied by a list containing the names, personal identification numbers and handwritten signatures of no fewer than 2,500 voters supporting the registration. The signature lists are to be verified by the General Directorate for Civil Registration and Administrative Services (GRAO) at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works by March 7.

Parties and coalitions are required to pay a non-interest-bearing deposit of EUR 1,278.23 in order to participate in the elections.

On February 19, the CEC adopted a timeline for the snap parliamentary elections. Under the timetable, by March 4 the CEC must determine the conditions and procedures for conducting the election campaign, which will begin at 00:00 hrs on March 20.

CEC has asked the Civil Registration and Administrative Services Department of the Regional Development Ministry to check the candidates for the elections and make sure they meet the conditions: are 21 years or older as of April 19; are Bulgarian citizens or, if they  also have foreign citizenship, have address registration in Bulgaria as of the election date; are not under legal guardianship or serving a prison sentence.

CEC, for its part, makes sure the candidate is not registered by more than one party or nominating committee; is not registered in more than two constituencies (or one constituency for independent candidates).

The checks by the Civil Registration and Administrative Services Department and CEC are due to be completed by 10am on March 22.

The campaign opens on March 20 and ends at midnight on April 17. The candidates are only allowed to use Bulgarian language during the campaign.

CEC also adopted a decision Tuesday regarding the terms and procedure for machine voting on April 19.