As Iskra.bg informed you earlier today, the MPs have finally decided that there will be no restrictions on the number of polling stations that are opened abroad. The condition for opening a section will be the presence of a diplomatic mission or consulate, as well as a minimum of 40 voters. This correction provoked mixed reactions. There were accusations that the interests of the MRF are being served in this way, and in Turkey, where there are already many abuses, the vote will become uncontrollable.
During the debates in the plenary hall, the MP from „Democratic Bulgaria“ Dimitar Naydenov commented that Bulgaria is indebted to the people who had to emigrate and leave their homeland to live elsewhere in the world. He added:
„It should be clear that this is a result of the bad governance of Bulgaria in the last 30 years, because many people who live abroad do not want to live there. They would return, but they must be given the right to determine how the state will develop. But I want to ask – if 2 million emigrants return to Bulgaria, is there a place to work? Has the Bulgarian state taken care to open new well-paid jobs for these people to return home? No. This is a result of poor governance as well. Citizens living abroad have the right to determine how the state develops – which policies are useful and which policies are harmful to the state. By giving them the right to vote, we give them the right to give their families the opportunity to return to Bulgaria. We are the melting nation in the world, the most disappearing, with the largest population decline. This will not change if we shut the mouths of people living abroad. These people will continue to live there. Let their children be born there. These children will speak less and less Bulgarian and will have less and less connection with the homeland of their parents and this connection will not be restored. An hour sooner the voice of these Bulgarians must be heard and we have the historical obligation to give them this right.“
As for the criticism of whether the new changes serve the MRF, Naydenov is of the opinion that this is not the case, because the potential for voting has been reached there. However, this has not been done in Europe and the United States. In addition, votes in Turkey have been declining over the years.
In the 2013 elections, they were 62,093 votes with an average of 722 votes per open polling station. In 2014, 136 polling stations were opened. 58,534 votes were cast, i.e. an average of 430 votes per polling station. In the 2017 vote, the limit for a maximum of 35 polling stations in non-EU countries already applies and there were 29,997 votes, compared to an average of 857 votes per polling station. In the current 2021, there were again 35 polling stations and 22,259 votes, which is a historical minimum. An average of 636 voters cast their ballots in one polling station.
Naydenov also commented on the fact that there are mass abuses in Turkey during the elections, including this year. He believes that this problem can be solved by strengthening the control in the polling stations.
The MP from „Democratic Bulgaria“ announced in his profile on the social network Facebook that the MPs have accepted the important amendment for the video surveillance of the elections.
„This is the same video surveillance that the status quo parties did everything possible to prevent the last elections. This is another proof that we are managing to change the rigid system. „What the citizens sent us to the parliament for.“, he wrote.
