The first two polling stations abroad in Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand opened at 7 am local time (22:00 Bulgarian time last night) for the 49th National Assembly elections, the Foreign Ministry said. 

Voting in Australia began two hours later. Election day abroad is expected to end at the latest at polling stations in California, USA - at 6 pm Bulgarian time (3 pm GMT) on Monday, 3 April. 

Bulgarian citizens can exercise their right to vote in 61 countries, in 737 polling stations. In 245 of the polling stations where machine voting is provided, the machines have been delivered to the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions.

The largest number of polling stations are in Turkey, where 350 thousand people have the right to vote, but only 10% of the Bulgarian voters in the country are expected to go to the polls.

In Greece, Bulgarian citizens can vote in 21 polling stations. 5 are in Athens, where the largest part of the diaspora is registered. There are another 5 polling stations in five towns on the island of Crete. Bulgarians can also vote in Alexandroupolis, Komotini, Kavala, Stavros and in Thessaloniki. Queues of people waiting to vote had formed when several polling stations opened in the morning.

English version: Elizabeth Radkova