Nearly 200,000 Bulgarians living abroad are expected to go to the polling stations at the forthcoming Parliamentary elections. However, many of them will be unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote because of a legislative restriction.

In 2016, Bulgaria’s lawmakers adopted a rule which limited the number of polling stations in non-EU countries to 35. This affects the rights of Bulgarians abroad, especially those living in Turkey, the United Kingdom and the USA. Thousands of Bulgarians abroad will not be able to vote, although a record-high number of voters are expected to cast their ballots abroad. Many Bulgarians living abroad have already signed a petition which is calling on the authorities to lift the restriction concerning the number of polling stations in non-EU countries. Unfortunately, none of the MPs submitted draft amendments to the Electoral Code, despite their right to initiate legislation.

“The barrier pursues ideological goals and aims to restrict the voting rights of our compatriots in Turkey – said Dimitar Ivanov, coordinator of the Network of Bulgarian Election Volunteers Worldwide. – The amendment was adopted under the tremendous pressure of the Patriotic Front with the motifs that it is defending the country, which is ridiculous, because a country cannot defend itself from its own citizens.”

Bulgarians in Great Britain demanded that 75 polling stations open for the general elections on April 4. However, more than half of the people who submitted applications to vote in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections will not be able to travel a long distance to reach the polling stations. Voters abroad will face another impediment related to the Easter celebrations in some countries and the restrictions adopted in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

“Many countries asked why Bulgarians have to vote in person during the coronavirus pandemic, instead of doing it electronically or by post – Dimitar Ivanov went on to say. The unwillingness of the political factors in this country to make changes aimed to integrate 1.5 million Bulgarian citizens is an expression of mistrust and proves the inability of the political class to communicate with these citizens. We do not behave like the citizens in Bulgaria and have higher expectations, because we can see how the best countries are functioning.”

In a video recorded in front of the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the European Union in Brussels, Bulgarians abroad say that the forthcoming Parliamentary elections will be historical and that voter turnout will be record high. Many young Bulgarians living abroad voiced their demands during the antigovernment protests last summer. "The civil society was not heard, which led to a sincere anger and desire for revenge against the political class", said Dimitar Ivanov. In his words, none of the Bulgarian MPs feel that they are elected by the Bulgarian communities abroad, because there is no electoral district “Abroad”. However, many compatriots submitted applications to vote at the 2021 Parliamentary elections. According to data of the Central Election Commission, more than 77,100 Bulgarians abroad submitted electronic applications to vote. For comparison, 45,000 Bulgarians did so during the previous elections. The application deadline expires at 24 hrs. on March 9. So far, the highest number of applications was submitted in Turkey (18,270), followed by Great Britain (14,300) and Germany (11,496). The list of the polling stations abroad will be published on March 13.

“The political configuration is changing over time and we want to accelerate this process- said Dimitar Ivanov. - We need accelerated development and true results, not results achieved through the absorbtion of funding under the EU programmes. We expect to see political programmes containing concrete measures aimed to mobilize the human capital, including the human capital of Bulgarians abroad”, contends Dimitar Ivanov.

Written by: Diana Tsankova 

English version: Kostadin Atanasov