Central Election Commission announced end of election day in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the end of election day in the territory of Bulgaria at 9 p.m. local time on Sunday, April 2.

Voting on 95 machines was suspended on election day due to various technical problems. Another 20 machines were removed from the election process yesterday, CEC spokesperson and deputy chair, Rositsa Mateva, told BNT.

The Central Election Commission is yet to analyse the cause of the problems with the devices.

Mateva also said that through the video surveillance, she noticed an irregularity in the polling station where she voted - a CEC member wrote with a pen on a pile of paper ballots. She reminded that the pen should be away from the paper ballots to avoid the risk of marking them.

The CEC expects the counting to be delayed tonight compared to the 2021 and 2022 elections because of the two types of ballots being processed - paper and machine.

The first data from the processed protocols will be available on the CEC website after 23.00.