Parliament Allows Bulgarians Living Abroad to Vote in Referendums

Bulgaria’s Parliament has adopted changes to the Referendum Act enabling Bulgarians living abroad to vote in referendums.
The legal amendments were proposed by ruling center-right party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB).

The changes also regulate the organization of referendums alongside local elections.

The bill was approved with 95 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 19 abstentions.

Meanwhile, MPs rejected five other bills proposing amendments to the Referendum Act.

The rejected bills had been submitted by nationalist party Ataka (3), right-wing formation the Reformist Bloc (1), and center-left party Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV) (1), according to reports of the BGNES news agency.

The rejected bills concerned the conditions for the validity of referendums and proposed a reduction in the number of signatures necessitating a mandatory referendum.

The first reading of the bill was held on Thursday, one day after President Rosen Plevneliev declared that he would propose holding a referendum alongside the local elections on October 25.