© Boyan Karadzhov
– Queue for voting in front of the Bulgarian Embassy in Paris
Bulgarians abroad vote today in a total of 750 polling stations in 68 countries. According to the Central Election Commission, voting abroad is going smoothly.
So far, problems have arisen mainly in Turkey, where in some places long queues have formed in front of the sections, which this time are 126. The turnout there is expected to be higher than in the previous two votes in April and July. In the previous parliamentary elections on July 11 in Turkey, 27-29 thousand people voted, and in April – 22 thousand.
Tensions have risen in Istanbul’s Avcilar district, where a queue has formed before election day, broadcasts BNR. The first voter wanted to vote for both president and parliament. “I pressed both buttons, I don’t know why it happened. It’s a little harder than the last time,” he explains. Confusion also occurred with the receipts, because there was a separate ballot box for each vote. In order not to block the queue, the locals asked the members of the section commission to help them. However, they refused on the grounds that they were not entitled. Many voters have given up their polling station and moved to another polling station in Istanbul to vote on paper ballots. “We can’t control the machine,” they said.
Huge queues of voters turned up in the Turkish city of Izmir, announced Nova TV. You can see photos here.
The vote in Europe
Higher turnout is observed among Bulgarians on the old continent, Central Election Commission spokesman Tsvetozar Tomov said earlier today. According to him, the main problem that has arisen in the sections in Europe is the composition of the section commissions. Members of some commissions refused to appear on election day, while others did not even know they had been appointed, Tomov explained. In the end, all sections worked thanks to the election volunteers.
A queue formed in front of the Bulgarian embassy in Paris the morning before. The waiting time was between half and 1 hour, said Boyan Karadzhov, coordinator of the Network of Election Volunteers. According to him, 865 people voted in Paris by 14.00. The capital is home to three of the 18 sections formed in France. Voting in Paris is entirely by machine, as is the case in three other polling stations in the country, the other 12 are on paper ballots.
The queue also curled up for a short time in front of the Bulgarian embassy in Berlin. In one of the sections there, the election day started late due to problems with the members of the commission who did not show up. At 16.00 Bulgarian time queues formed in front of the embassy, and the wait is about an hour, said Katya Kostova, chairwoman of a section commission in Berlin.
Due to restrictions imposed by local authorities on these elections in Germany can only have sections at up to 40 addresses, outside the diplomatic and consular services. Martin Chilev, who is an election volunteer in the Duisburg section, told Dnevnik that turnout on November 14 was lower than in the April elections, but higher than in the July elections. For him, the explanation for the smaller number of people wishing to vote is the reduced number of addresses where people can vote.
© Simeon Vassilev
– A small queue formed in front of the embassy in Berlin.
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In the United Kingdom, voters vote in 132 polling stations, 46 of which are in London. A total of 92 machines will be used. It was reported that one of the voting machines in the embassy was damaged, but otherwise everything is going normally and smoothly in the elections for MPs and president. Despite some expected problems with PEC formations, all sections of the Island opened this morning. This was confirmed by Ambassador Marin Raykov, who released his ballot at the embassy. There is already a slight increase in the number of voters, BNR reports.
Voting in America
Election day also began in the United States and Canada. The Bulgarians, who are on the East Coast, are the first to have the opportunity to vote at 2 pm Bulgarian time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Bulgarian citizens in the United States can exercise their right to vote in the elections for President and Vice President and the National Assembly in 55 polling stations, and in Canada in 16. In the United States in 8 sections will vote by machine, and in Canada – in 2 sections.
The latest election day abroad will begin and end in the US states of California, Arizona and Nevada, as well as in the Canadian city of Vancouver. The polling stations there open at 5 pm Bulgarian time, and the voting will end tomorrow at 6:00 am Bulgarian time.
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