YOUR GUIDE TO VOTING IN BULGARIA

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Image showing an a girl putting a ballot in a voting box.

When to Vote

9 June 2024

Mark your calendars!

Anyone aged 18 or over on the election day can vote if they have residency in Bulgaria or citizenship of another EU country, and have lived for at least the last three months in the country or the EU.

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Do I have an obligation to Vote?

Yes, there is a legal obligation to vote.

Where can I vote?

Illustration showing different ways to vote, by mail, in person or online.

If you are a Bulgarian citizen voting in Bulgaria

If you live in Bulgaria, check your official home address, because you have to vote at the polling station close to where you live. And keep in mind that you also have to register. If you moved recently, make sure to register with the municipality of you new addressno later than 14 days before polling day. There are some exemptions if you are, for example, a student. Find out more here.

Do you have a disability or an illness that prevents you to go and vote? You can request a mobile polling station, but you have to register not later than 14 days before the elections.

If you are a Bulgarian citizen voting from another EU country

Do you live abroad?  You can only vote if you have resided in Bulgaria or another EU country for at least three months immediately before election day. If you are not registered to vote in Bulgaria or another EU country, you are excluded from the voting list. But don’t worry! You can ask the authorities to include you on the list prior to the elections or on the election day. You can learn more here.

Deadline to register: you have to have to declare your intention to vote no later than 25 days before election day.

If you are an Bulgarian citizen voting from a country outside the EU

The same conditions apply if you live outside the EU, meaning you can only vote if you have resided in Bulgaria or another EU country for at least three months immediately before election day. If you meet these conditions, you can cast your vote in Bulgarian foreign representations abroad.

If you are EU citizen voting in Bulgaria

As a legal resident in Bulgaria, you can of course vote there! Make sure to register in the municipality where you have your official residence, to be on the voting list. 

Deadline to register: you have to register at least 40 days before the elections.

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Voting Online
Can I vote online?
NO ✖ Unfortunately you cannot vote online in Bulgaria.
Picture showing a mail box and envelope.
Voting by Mail
Can I vote by mail?
NO ✖ Unfortunately you cannot vote by mail in Bulgaria.
Picture showing a girl in front of a computer.
Voting by Proxy
Can I vote by proxy?
NO ✖ Unfortunately, voting by proxy is not available in Bulgaria.
Picture showing a girl with locomotory disability in a wheelchair, and a bullet with someone putting a ballot in a box.

Voting & accessibility

Do you have a disability or an illness? If you cannot go to the polling station, there are forms of assistance available:

  • you can request a mobile polling station/ballot, but make sure to do it at least 14 days before the election day
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fun facts

  • Bulgaria joined the European Union on 1 January 2007.
  • Bulgaria will have 17 members of the European Parliament the same as in the previous elections in 2019.
  • There is only one national constituency and everyone votes for the same list across the country.
  • Bulgaria uses preferential voting - gives voters the option to indicate their preference on a party list.
  • The threshold for the European elections is at least one seventeenth of the votes.
  • Bulgaria is one of the oldest European countries, it has had a continuous existence as a nation-state for over 1,300 years, and it hasn’t changed its name even though the country has been under Byzantine and Ottoman rule throughout its history.
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