1st LD Writethru: Bulgarians cast ballots for local authorities, referendum on e-voting

Bulgarian voters went to poll stations on Sunday to cast ballots for local authorities, and for approval or rejection of possibility of electronic voting in future elections and referendums.

A total of 12,314 polling stations across the country opened at 6:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT). A total of 6,363,238 eligible voters were to vote for mayors and municipal councilors from 42,702 candidates.

In addition, 523 nationals of European Union countries have declared that they wanted to vote in the elections, held every four years, Bulgaria's Central Election Commission has said.

In total, 58 percent of the Bulgarians have said they would vote in the local elections, according to a recent survey conducted by the Alpha Research Agency.

Meanwhile, 6,885,893 Bulgarians are eligible to participate in a referendum by answering the question: "Do you support the idea that people will have the right to vote from distance online when elections and referendums are held?"

The difference in the number of voters comes from the regulation that only citizens who have permanent and current addresses registered in Bulgaria can vote in the local elections.

According to the Alpha Research Agency, 49 percent of those living in Bulgaria intended to participate in the referendum, and 77 percent of them approved the possibility of electronic voting.

The referendum was initiated by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev who said there are quite a lot of benefits of distance online voting.

"I am convinced that the Bulgarian voters will be able to vote online in the near future -- we should offer this option on time. Thus more than 1.5 million Bulgarians abroad will be able to contribute to the future of our homeland," Plevneliev said.

The combination of local elections and the referendum caused queues of people waiting at the polling stations on Sunday.

Xinhua reporters saw that people in the village of Bistritsa in Sofia municipality had to cast five ballots. With one, they could elect the municipality's mayor among 21 candidates. With another, they voted for mayor of their Vitosha district among 20 candidates. The third was for mayor of their village with three names on the list. The fourth ballot contained a list of 32 parties and coalitions that presented applicants for municipal councilors, and the fifth ballot had the referendum question.

Voting in smaller towns like Targovishte, 320 km northeast of Sofia, was easier, an eyewitness told Xinhua. She said she had to cast three ballots: one for the municipality mayor, who is also the mayor and the town, another ballot for municipal councilors, and the third -- for the referendum.

Speaking after voting in Sofia, President Plevneliev called on Bulgarians to vote massively for people who will modernize settlements and change them for the better, as well for the referendums in Bulgaria to happen.

"Let's all go to the polls to show that people have an opinion, have a position, want to be asked and to be heard," Plevneliev said. Endit