Balgarianovinite.com Parliament Thursday conclusively adopted amendments to the Election Code that slash the number of polling stations for Bulgarian elections in countries outside the EU. Proposed by Vazrazhdane, the revisions say that the polling stations set up outside Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions in countries that are not members of the EU may not be more than 20.
Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) proposed that the number of such polling stations be capped at 100, the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms at 70, and GERB-UDF at 30, but all three proposals were rejected in the plenary hall.
With 117 votes in favor, 82 against, and 10 abstentions, Parliament adopted the original proposal put forward by Vazrazhdane, setting the limit at 20 polling stations. Lawmakers also decided that polling stations outside diplomatic or consular missions will be established on the basis of at least 40 applications by voters.
The revisions will have much consequence for voting in Bulgarian elections in Turkiye, the UK and US, which are the countries outside the EU with the largest Bulgarian communities. At the latest Bulgarian parliamentary elections, in 2024, there were 168 polling stations in Turkiye, 112 in the UK and 53 in the US, according to data on the Central Election Commission website.
During the parliamentary debate, Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev spoke for an hour and 20 minutes about voting abroad, offering a breakdown of data by polling station and outlining how many Bulgarian citizens could be deprived of their right to vote if Vazrazhdane’s Election Code amendments were adopted. He accused GERB, Vazrazhdane, BSP – United Left, and There Is Such a People of seeking to strip Bulgarian citizens abroad of their right to vote.
Aleksandar Ivanov of GERB-UDF accused Vassilev of putting on “a performance, a circus” that added nothing to the debate.”
Vazrazhdane MP Tsvetana Rangelova refuted Vassilev’s accusation, noting that limiting the number of polling stations does not amount to disenfranchisement. Her fellow party member Georgi Hrisimirov spent around half an hour listing polling stations in Turkiye where, according to him, CC-DB, MECh, Velichie and what he called “the Turkish parties” want to preserve the votes for Turkish parties. “From Turkiye, between four and nine MPs are sent to the Bulgarian parliament. We cannot allow that,” the Vazrazhdane MP added.
Independent MP Myumyun Myumyun asked which Turkish parties were being referred to and noted that he was a member of a Bulgarian party. “The [Movement for Rights and Freedoms] MRF is the party that represents all these people,” he noted.
MP Taner Ali of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms said that Hrisimirov had violated the Bulgarian Constitution by claiming that there were Turkish parties in Bulgaria. Under the Constitution, there are only Bulgarian parties in the country, he stressed. Parliament Slashes Number of Polling Stations in Non-EU Countries 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-05 19:01:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law