In Leyarovo and Stroyno, the political campaign has hardly reached the people. In some of the smallest settlements near the border with Turkey, residents talk more about the depopulation, lack of services and difficult access to polling stations than about the messages of the presidential candidates.
Leyarovo is the smallest village in the Straldzha municipality. According to the electoral list, 13 people have the right to vote there, but many of the houses are abandoned and it is difficult to find even two permanent residents.
“The village has 4-5 people. Don't you have a shop? No, in the neighboring village there is... everyone is saving themselves“, says Georgi. He is in Leyarovo for the weekend, but he voted in Yambol.
Dimitar, who has lived in the village since birth, has a pension of 300 euros. His money is enough for bread and food for his dog Rocco. His distrust of politicians has reached the point of refusing to participate in the vote.
„Everyone is lying, I'm just desperate now and I don't feel like voting. If I tell you the truth, I don't feel like voting, but come on, let's fulfill my civic duty“, says Mitko Todorov.The deputy mayor of Leyarovo Tanya Gospodinova says that representatives of political forces have not visited the village.
The polling station is kilometers away
In the Elhovo village of Stroyno, residents have seen the candidates mainly on election posters. 83-year-old Minka does not expect politicians to change the lives of people in the village and declares that she will not vote.
„So whether you vote or not... For better or worse, they put them there the first time, and now - from these, another one... Do you have any hope that politicians will change anything? No“, says Minka.The nearest polling station can be reached after traveling for kilometers. Atanas says that he went to it, but did not vote after finding out that voting is only by machines.
„I went, but when I found out that voting is only by machines, I did not vote. And how many people from the village went? Only me, and I did not vote“, says Atanas.The low turnout is also visible in the data for the region. As of 11:00 a.m. on the first round on October 25, 5.66 percent of voters in Elhovo municipality had voted, which is the lowest value in Yambol district for that hour. Nationally, the turnout in the first round was 23.16 percent.
In the runoff, residents of small villages will once again have to decide whether to get to the polling stations, despite the distance, lack of transportation and the disappointment that politicians rarely think about them.
Sources: btvnovinite.bg, bta.bg, bnrnews.bg