Is Bulgaria Prepared to Hold Election on 28 March?

After President Rumen Radev earlier today announced that there is no reason for the elections to be postponed and most likely they will be held on March 28, novini.bg sought the expert opinion of political scientist Lyubomir Stefanov to find out if we are ready for the upcoming vote in 2021.

The President has actually stated an indicative opinion: he wishes there would be no postponement of the election and nailed the date on March 28. In fact, there is a process of coordination of all the administrative authorities involved responsible for this process. This may remain a proposal depending on the course of the pandemic situation", said Stefanov.

How can we organize elections when we have so many unknowns?

“Maybe the second wave of COVID-19 is about to end, but who guarantees there won't be a third in March. At this point, the biggest problem emerges - how will everyone's right to exercise their constitutional right of vote be organized in the event of many voters being quarantined and sick. There are a lot of technical questions that no one currently can answer, and before March there are only three months left," the political scientist said.

"How we will organize it all?  Will we use mobile ballot boxes or vote by mail? is Currently the main political players don’t show any will to look for a scenario to solve the dilemma. We know that electronic voting is not allowed in Bulgaria," he said.

"It is clear to everyone that the election campaign has been going on since the spring. We've been witnessing protests and scandals for six months now. All this has led to a lack of consensus and a dramatic fall in trust in institutions and parties. Currently, political parties have limited resources for campaigning. Coping with the pandemic and vaccinating will become the main motive for the upcoming vote. At the moment the situation is like  it was in the summer," he said.

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