Elections for members of parliament held for second time this year

The election day on which Bulgarian citizens are voting for members of the 46th National Assembly, started at 7 AM and will continue until 8 PM Bulgarian time. 15 parties and 8 coalitions are vying for seats in the parliament of Bulgaria. All persons with Bulgarian citizenship aged over 18 as of the date of the elections, inside the country and abroad, are entitled to vote. Persons with a permanent residence status in the Republic of Bulgaria who are not Bulgarian citizens are not entitled to vote at elections for members of the National Assembly.

The 240 seats in Bulgarian parliament are filled by MPs elected in 31 multi-member constituencies. Their distribution takes place on the basis of the number of voters with a permanent address in the respective constituency, with the minimum number of seats guaranteeing political pluralism for one constituency being 4.

After the record-high voter turnout by Bulgarian citizens abroad in April, the number of polling stations set up for today’s election abroad is almost double - 784, compared to465 on 4 April. At the previous election 50.61% of the Bulgarian citizens exercised their right to vote.

The snap elections taking place today are the 12th consecutive elections for parliament in Bulgaria since the start of the democratic changes in the country in 1989. Early elections were scheduled for 11th July after the 45th National Assembly, elected on 4 April, 2021, failed to form a government. /BGNES