/ world today news/ Bulgarians abroad are preparing an electoral “surprise” with upcoming protests due to the restrictions imposed by the Election Code. The deadline for submitting requests to appear at the polls abroad expired at midnight.
It is clear from the CEC website that the restrictions adopted in the summer for up to 35 sections in another country will cause chaos and queues not only in Great Britain, but also in other places. By 5pm yesterday, more than 6,300 letters requesting the opening of sections had arrived in the UK. There are over 60 applicants in at least 46 cities, and the CEC will have to assess which settlements will be damaged in order to comply with the provisions of the code, writes “Sega”.
Bulgarians in Germany will also face serious difficulties. The MFA announced that the German state has allowed Bulgaria to open sections in only eight cities – the embassy in Berlin, the consulate general in Munich and the consulate in Frankfurt am Main, as well as in the offices of our honorary consuls in Hamburg, Magdeburg, Münster, Darmstadt and Stuttgart. The mission in Berlin did not comment to Sega about the reason for the imposed restriction and referred it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement that “the embassy in Germany promptly took action to obtain the necessary permission, and a verbal note was sent on August 12.” It noted the interest of the Bulgarian community and requested “external sections” in Dortmund, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Regensburg, and also in Waldorf, Aachen, Bremen, Hamm, Konstanz. “Referring to the established protocol practice, the German side does not allow this year an exception to the principle and the opening of sections outside the diplomatic and consular missions and the offices of honorary consuls,” the announcement said. Until the editorial end of the issue, the German MFA did not respond to Sega’s inquiry about the reason for the refusal.
The decision will certainly make it difficult for Bulgarians in Germany to vote, commented our compatriots there. “This will lead to a drastic drop in voter turnout,” predicts Dimitar Lichev from Karlsruhe, quoted by Darik Radio. According to Antoineta Toncheva from Regensburg, if there is a refusal on the part of Germany to form sections, it is because of an inadequate request from the Bulgarian side. She announced that our compatriots are ready to protest in front of the embassy in Berlin and the consulates general in Munich and Frankfurt am Main.
Compatriots abroad, united in the “I want to vote” initiative, have sent a letter to the head of the legal commission in the National Assembly, Danail Kirilov, to the initiators of the latest amendments to the Election Code – the head of the GERB group Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the co-chairmen of the Patriotic Front Krasimir Karakachanov and Valeri Simeonov and of the Nayden Zelenogorski Reform Bloc, as well as to the CEC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It states that “decisions on the latest legislative changes, taken without a thorough analysis of the voting history in the most numerous and active communities outside the country and without observing principled positions and texts from the constitution, pose serious challenges to the right of Bulgarian citizens to exercise their voice”. “The lack of an opinion on the part of the CEC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this topic shows a short-sighted policy on their part with regard to the fair and efficient organization of elections abroad,” the statement also reads.
A total of over 30,000 requests to vote abroad were received at the CEC by 5pm yesterday. After Great Britain, they are the most in Turkey – about 6,000. In our southern neighbor, there is also a possibility that the CEC will have to refuse to open sections. Over 60 requests came from 34 settlements. The city from which a record number of applications for voting was registered is located in Turkey – Chorlu, with nearly 2,000. Bulgarians in the USA are also on the verge of crossing the barrier of 35 authorized polling stations, “Sega” summarizes.
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