Following Bulgaria’s early parliamentary elections held on April 19, Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky provided an update on the voting process for Bulgarian citizens abroad during a briefing on Monday. She reported that just under 200,000 Bulgarian citizens voted from overseas locations. According to the minister, of the total voters counted, 53,000 cast their ballots using electronic voting machines.
Neynsky noted a significant procedural challenge, explaining that 156,000 individuals, representing 81% of those who voted, had not pre-registered and instead filed applications to vote on Election Day, which subsequently slowed down the counting process. The Foreign Minister also provided updates on the polling activities across several international locations. In the United States, ballot counting was reported as ongoing in the westernmost voting sections.
In Turkey, voting extended past the official close of Election Day in seven different sections due to high turnout and queues of waiting voters. Furthermore, extended operational hours were necessary in the United Kingdom, where five sections in London remained open beyond standard closing times. In other countries, the process continued late into the evening: one section in Spain and one in Norway operated past 8 pm, while two sections in Serbia also required extended hours.
These reports detail the logistical efforts undertaken by the foreign mission to ensure that Bulgarian citizens could cast their votes despite the varied circumstances across multiple international jurisdictions.
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The 200,000 vote count from abroad represents a substantial participation rate for this election.