Judges are voting for six of their representatives to the Judges’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council. A total of 2,275 magistrates are eligible to participate, while there are 21 candidates. Election day begins at 8:00 a.m. and continues until 6:00 p.m.
Voting is conducted with paper ballots at 30 polling stations located in the buildings of the district courts. In Sofia, there are four polling stations – two in the Courthouse, one at the Supreme Administrative Court and one at the Sofia District Court. Seconded judges vote at the polling station to which they have been assigned according to the judicial body where they were appointed.
21 candidates for six seats
The candidates are Vasil Pelovski, Krasimira Milachkova, Stoyu Zgurov, Vasil Petkov, Mladen Dimitrov, Veselka Zlateva-Kozhuharova, Maria Terziyska, Todor Todorov, Daniela Aleksandrova, Nadya Pelovska-Dilkova, Emilia Vasileva, Svetlana Kalinova, Stefan Iliev, Krasimir Mazgalov, Vladimir Valkov, Vesela Evstatieva, Asen Tsvetanov, Albena Momchilova, Roman Nikolov, Yavor Kolev and Krasimira Doneva.
The candidates include judges from the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, court presidents and deputy presidents, as well as magistrates from appellate, district, administrative and regional courts. The candidates presented their positions and answered questions before the General Assembly of Judges on October 31.
“I expect a high voter turnout in these elections, because this is the only way to change the situation in the system at present,” said Galina Zaharova, president of the Supreme Court of Cassation.Results expected by 11:00 p.m.
After 6:00 p.m., the members of the section commissions will open the ballot boxes, count the ballots and determine the validity of the votes cast. The process will be recorded on video and broadcast in real time.
The chairpersons and members of the polling stations must sign the protocols and send scanned copies to the election commission no later than 9:00 p.m. The chairperson of the commission of the General Assembly of Judges must rule on the validity of the election and announce the results for all candidates and the names of the six elected members by 11:00 p.m.
Sources: bta.bg, nova.bg