Bulgarian presidential election, 2011

The presidential and local elections in Bulgaria in 2011 were carried out simultaneously. They took place on 23 October 2011. On October 30, 2011, there was a ballot, from which it emerged the previously favored candidate of the ruling GERB party, Rosen Plevneliev as the winner.

A total of 6.9 million eligible voters were asked to cast their vote in one of over 11,000 polling stations. Besides Plevneliev, former Minister for Regional Development, the socialist opposition politicians Ivaylo Kalfin were ( Bulgarian Socialist Party ) and the independent Meglena Kuneva given the greatest chance to win. Georgi Parvanov was not allowed to run again after two terms.

• 3.2 During and after the elections

Presidential elections

Nominations

Following 18 candidates were admitted to the presidential election, 2011:

Ivaylo Kalfin

Meglena Kuneva

Volen Siderov

Rumen Hristov

Opinion polls

Result

• The remaining candidates reached was less than 2 %.

Run-off

The runoff election 30 October 2011 decided Rosen Plevneliev with 52.6 percent of the vote. On Ivailo Kalfin, who was supported in the ballot of the party DPS, accounted for 47.4 percent of the vote.

Local elections

Same time as the presidential elections are in all 264 municipalities municipal councils, city councils and mayoral elections. In two of the four largest cities in the ruling party GERB is with their incumbent mayors (Sofia - Dimitar Nikolov - Jordanka Fandakowa and Burgas ) to start the race. GERB also supported the incumbent mayor of Varna - Kiril Yordanov, who competes as an independent candidate. The largest number of candidates for mayoral positions were registered with 47 candidates in the port city of Burgas.

In 14 of the 27 regional capitals GERB will in future be the mayor: Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Blagoevgrad, Pleven, Ruse, Veliko Turnovo, Silistra, Smolyan, Yambol, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo. The Socialists (BSP ) conquered here only 6 ( Vidin, Vratsa, Lovech, Razgrad, Shumen, Targovishte ) and again demonstrated that their strength is still in the countryside and in small towns. Established by the Blue Coalition candidate prevailed in Kyustendil, Montana and Pazardzhik.

Electoral fraud

One in the public and the mass media very widely discussed topic in advance of the elections was the possible election fraud in the form of vote buying. According to Bulgarian electoral research institutes two weeks before the elections about 30 leva (about 17 euros ) in the country and about 50 leva (about 28 euros ) were offered in the cities for a purchased vote. Therefore was provided every political advertisement and any election poster with the required statement: " The buying and selling of votes is a crime. " ( Bulg " Купуването и продаването на гласове е престъпление. ") This notice was also aired in between the radio again and again. In the previous elections there had been extensive vote buying. Even indirect vote buying had become public, such as when a candidate invites the whole neighborhood to a party where there is free food (preferably Kebabtscheta - grilled minced meat). The Bulgarian television reported from a village by an indirect electoral fraud, the brother of a candidate was the owner of the local grocery store and its customers adopted is described bills.

In order to prevent a control mechanism of the votes buyer by photographic evidence from the completed ballots, which take away from cameras or cell phones with photo function in the voting booth was prohibited by law in the 2011 elections. Often Roma are the target of votes buyers. To instruct the often illiterate Romas, at which point they should make up their cross, giving them sometimes a little stick with the correct length in the voting booth. With this, they have to Measure only from the top of the ballot, how far they have to go into the sometimes over a meter long ballot down to make her cross at the "right" place.

Before the election, there was also discussion that the choice number of candidates standing in the box must be ticked. The voter could then supposedly believe that, canceled by these candidates, rather than vote for him. Valid only ballot on which the candidate is marked with a small cross, the cross must not go beyond the edge of the box, it must be done with a blue ballpoint pen. Disabled persons may be accompanied by a helper. However, an assistant may accompany a maximum of two people. Illiteracy is to have no justification to be accompanied by a helper.

In the border regions is to some extent "election tourism" expected. Citizens with Bulgarian citizenship who live in neighboring countries, driven at the expense of candidates with buses in their home region to participate in the election there can. Greece had rejected the establishment of official polling stations for the Bulgarians living there before the election.

Just two weeks before the elections, 13 October 2011, a bomb attack on the official car of the dissident journalist Sasho Dikow ( Bulg Сашо Диков ) was carried out in Sofia. The car was parked in front of the apartment block of journalists, nobody was hurt. As was staying at the time of the stop of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Sofia, this attack is evaluated by unknowns than intimidation.

The ballot papers shall be delivered only on presentation of valid ID and thereby stamped by the Electoral Commission. This also citizens with expired identification documents can take part in the election, it was pointed out in the weeks before the election, the expiration date of his ID card to check and if necessary to apply for a new passport or ID document before the election. To this end, the competent authorities were instructed to fully exploit the opening times and promptly issue a new identity card or a valid choice for temporary staff Document.

During and after the elections

After the elections, several parties have announced to complain to the Constitutional Court to declare the elections invalid and can collect the results. They criticized fraud in the elections in the capital and in some other places. In some cases people could either choose only for the presidential election, or only for local elections or they had to vote in two different polling stations. In some places, new ballots were printed during the election. In the capital Sofia almost all election result protocols were not filled in correctly.