All polling-station commissions in Bulgaria began work, with no unopened stations reported at the Central Election Commission’s first briefing on 25 October. At that stage, three stations in Yambol, Haskovo and Ruse had switched to paper ballots after problems with voting machines.
A snapshot from the first briefing
The commission reported no complaints or infringement reports at that briefing. That is a time-specific account, not a guarantee that no incident can arise later. Individual personnel changes were also reported, including members who did not attend for health reasons.
The scale of the election
Around 6.59 million citizens are eligible to vote, including 46,001 first-time voters. There are 12,683 polling stations, with 613 overseas across 60 countries. The largest overseas networks are in the United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, Spain and the United States.
Paper voting was also planned in advance
A total of 3,068 stations at home and abroad were scheduled to use paper ballots. That planned figure is separate from stations switching because of a machine fault. Technical support is available through the designated maintenance centre, while any change in voting procedure must be documented by the responsible commission.
The voting day continues
Domestic voting is scheduled until 20:00, with an extension for people still waiting, no later than 21:00. Overseas voting ends later because of time zones, with the final stations in the western United States. No election result is announced in this update; participation and incident reports remain distinct from the final count.
