As of 12:00 today, nearly 16 thousand applications for voting have been submitted by voters outside the country, said the Deputy Chairperson and Spokesperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Rositsa Mateva during a briefing in connection with the preparation and conduct of the April elections for members of parliament. Mateva recalled that the application for voters outside the country can be submitted via the CEC website, and the deadline expires on March 24, BTA reports.
According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the application on the CEC website states that it is inappropriate to open sectional commissions in Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, Mateva said. She added that there is an opportunity to submit applications there, but the decision on whether sections will be opened will be made later, when the number of sections and the places where they will be opened are determined.
Today we received a letter from the MFA from the embassy in Brazil, as it is parameterized for submitting applications, on the recommendation of the Foreign Ministry, the CEC spokesperson said. Mateva added that there is a request from the embassy to include this opportunity to submit applications for the embassy in Brazil. The CEC is yet to make a decision, Mateva said.
According to the preliminary electoral lists published on the CEC website, there are 6,641,768 voters, the commission spokesperson said, adding that every citizen can check whether they are included in them. An application to vote at their current address must be submitted to the municipal administration by April 4, the spokesperson said.
The draw with the numbers on the ballots will be made on March 18, Mateva said. Changes in the composition and name of the coalitions can be made until March 14, she added. Registered coalitions can submit applications to change the name or to include or leave parties in the composition of coalitions, said the CEC spokesperson.
Until March 17, parties and coalitions that are registered to participate in the elections can and must submit applications for registering candidate lists with the regional election commissions, Mateva also said.
The CEC sent a letter with instructions to the regional commissions and the parliamentaryly represented parties and coalitions, she commented. Mateva added that the parliamentaryly represented parties and coalitions are given the opportunity to specify the names of the sectional election commissions, and they can also make changes to the proposals.
The speaker also said that four appeals were filed against CEC decisions in the past week, all four of which were rejected, and the Supreme Administrative Court has upheld the decisions of the election commission.
The deadline for conducting consultations with the mayors of municipalities is until March 14 for the composition of sectional election commissions (SECs), Mateva also said. They will be appointed by the regional election commissions by March 24, she specified.
Rositsa Mateva added that on the CEC website and on the Facebook and Instagram pages, each voter can indicate a reason why they will vote in the upcoming elections. The CEC website contains all the information on issues related to the elections, Mateva added.
Regarding the warranty period of the voting machines, which has expired, Mateva said that the machines were purchased new in 2021 and had a three-year warranty period. Repairs to the machines are carried out by the state, said Rositsa Mateva.