Bulgarian Election - April 2026
Announcement
in connection with the elections for Members of Parliament on 19 April 2026
DEAR CITIZENS,
By its Decision No. 4511-NS of 27.02.2026, the Central Election Commission announced the list of places in the countries where polling stations abroad will be automatically established in accordance with Art. 14, para. 1 and Art. 14, para. 2, item 2 of the Electoral Code for the elections for Members of Parliament on 19 April 2026.
According to the latest amendments to the Electoral Code, in countries that are not members of the European Union, up to 20 polling stations are established outside the diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Bulgaria in the respective country /Art. 14 of the Electoral Code, paras. 3 and 5/. In compliance with this provision of the Electoral Code, at this stage, the Central Election Commission has announced, for countries that are not members of the European Union, the establishment of polling stations only in the buildings of the diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Bulgaria in the respective country.
In order for the establishment of polling stations to be proposed in other populated places, in addition to those where the diplomatic and consular representations are located, it is necessary for the condition of Art. 14, paras. 3 and 5 of the Electoral Code to be fulfilled, which provides that no fewer than 40 applications from voters must be submitted by 24 March 2026.
The Electoral Code provides the following possibilities for submitting a written application form signed by hand by those wishing to exercise their active right to vote abroad:
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in person or sent by mail through a letter to the diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Bulgaria in the respective country, or
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through an electronic application via the website of the Central Election Commission.
In one letter, there may be more than one application, while in each application, only one person may be entered.
The presence of at least 40 registered applications will give grounds for the heads of the diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad, based on the territorial distribution of the Bulgarian community, the distance of the polling stations and the requirement for the number of stations abroad, to send a reasoned proposal to the Central Election Commission no later than 22 days before election day for the establishment of additional polling stations in /the respective country/.