Bulgaria MPs Pass Amended Rules on Clearing of Electoral Rolls

Lawmakers have been criticized for being in a rush to pass the new Electoral Code before the Orthodox Easter holiday which this year begins April 29. Photo: BGNES

Bulgarian lawmakers changed late on Tuesday an earlier proposal under which voters who did not take part in an election would be deleted from electoral rolls.

The new amendments, adopted in a second reading, stipulate that a voter will be "deregistered" if they do not cast a ballot in two consecutive elections of the same kind (be they general or presidential).

A change in the previously proposed rule was agreed earlier during the day in a meeting of Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and leaders of political parties making up the coalition government or supporting it in Parliament.

The proposed Electoral Code has sparked tensions among the opposition, civil society members, and Bulgarian communities living abroad.

Under the amendments approved in a marathon session on Tuesday evening, deregistration is not definitive, however: voters whose names have been removed will be able to take part in the next election by submitting a declaration to the municipality of their permanent address. The registration could take place even on election day.

Electoral rolls will not be cleared of Bulgarian citizens living abroad, people aged over 70 or having disabilities such as impaired sight.

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