Today, Bulgaria is voting again in early parliamentary elections, this one with a high stakes – a chance to restart the country and reformat it into a modern European country after more than ten years of suffocating GERB’s monopoly. The alternative is clearly outlined in the face of the three so-called protest parties: “There is such a people”, “Democratic Bulgaria” and “Stand up! Get out!”, Which are calling for deep reforms. The big question is whether they will be able to reach a majority of 121 deputies to form a cabinet without becoming dependent on the other so-called parties of the status quo, or another early election will follow, this time along with the presidential elections in the fall. The answer also strongly depends on the turnout: low turnout favors parties with strong electoral cores, such as the so-called parties of the status quo.
For the time being, the election day is going smoothly, with some technical problems in some places with the voting machines, but they are not so numerous as to endanger the process. Several media outlets published the results of exit polls of sociological agencies on social networks or directly on their websites, despite the ban. The picture they outline so far does not differ significantly from the latest forecasts of the agencies before the vote, although the difference between the two parties vying for first place is currently much larger than forecast. However, turnout is still not enough to draw conclusions.
The Capital team follows the highlights of election day in this live blog, where you can read chronologically (with the latest leadership) all the key events, data and comments from Capital journalists. The election studio of “Dnevnik” and “Capital” starts at 18:00, which you can follow through the pages of here and here, as well as on Facebook or in Youtube.
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Photographer: Nadezhda Chipeva
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