Foreigners in Bulgaria can vote for BG-candidates at the June EP elections

CEC-Announcement

Requirements for EU Citizens Voting in EP Elections

Central electoral commission for electing members of the European parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria

Citizens of European Union Member-States who would like to exercise their right to vote in the elections for Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria on 7 June 2009 (active suffrage) may, no later than 27 April 2009, file a written statement according to form (Attachment No. 12 of the election stationery) with the municipal administration according to their address of residence. The statements are available at the municipal administrations where they shall receive such for inclusion in the electoral registers.

Those who wish to vote in the Bulgarian elections for the European Parliament shall meet the following requirements shall:

• not have Bulgarian citizenship;
• be aged 18 and over by the day of the elections (7 June 2009) included;
• have the status of permanent or long-term residence in the Republic of Bulgaria;
• have resided permanently in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another EU Member-State no less than 60 days in the last three months prior to 7 June 2009;
• not be deprived of the right to vote in the European Union Member-State of which he/she is a citizen.

When submitting the statement, citizens of European Union Member-States should present before the municipal administrations their identity document (passport or identity card), a certificate by the Bulgarian authorities attesting to permanent or long-term residence.

On the first line of the statement (Attachment No. 12 of the election stationery) applicants shall write their names in Bulgarian letters and on the line under Item 6 - in Latin letters in the way they are written in their identity documents.

The following shall be declared in the statement: citizenship, the address of residence in the Republic of Bulgaria, the settlement or the electoral constituency where the applicant's name was entered for the last time in a European Union Member-State, that the applicant shall exercise the right to vote only in the Republic of Bulgaria, that the applicant is not deprived of the right to vote in the Member State of which he/she is a citizen, the number of the residence permit and the date of registration indicated therein, the data from the identity card or passport. The following shall also be entered in Item 6 of the statement: date and place of birth, as well as the gender of the voter. The declared circumstances shall be checked through the Foreign Minister in the state of which the applicant is citizen.

Voters who have applied for voting may not exercise their right to vote in another European Union Member-State, or in the Bulgarian polling division for voting abroad for the same elections for European Parliament in 2009.

Persons who have not filed statements by 27 April 2009 shall not be able to vote for the candidates for Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria on 7 June 2009 and may not be added to the electoral registers on the day of the elections.

Any person who has filed a statement by 27 April 2009 may check his/her entry into the electoral register - Part II, which shall be publicized no later than 12 May 2009 by the municipal administration in a public and accessible place in the vicinity of his/her polling division. The names shall be written in Bulgarian letters.

In the event that his/her name is missing, a voter may file a written statement by form (Attachment No. 3 of the election stationery) to be added in the electoral register. The form of the statement is available at the municipal administrations according to address of residence in the Republic of Bulgaria. The applicant shall present an ID and the Bulgarian residence permit for verification together with the statement.

On the day of the elections - 7 June 2009 - persons who have filed statements but have been omitted from the electoral register may by added therein by the constituency electoral commission before which they exercise their right to vote. A refusal to do so may be appealed before the constituency electoral commission, which shall rule on the appeal immediately.

Incorrectly entered data (name and address) may be corrected by means of a written application by form (Attachment No. 4 of the election stationery), submitted to the mayor of the municipality or mayoralty (for the ones who according to address reside in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna - to the mayor of the borough) no later than 30 May 2009.

A voter may also be expunged from the electoral register list by his/her written application (Attachment No. 5 of the election stationery) to the mayor of the municipality or the borough no later than 30 May 2009. The application form is available at the municipal administration according to address of residence. The mayor shall consider the application for addition or expungement within two days and shall come out with a reasoned decision, which shall be publicized in a public place in the building of the municipality/mayoralty.

A refusal of the mayor to effect an addition or expungement shall be made known to the applicant immediately and may be appealed before the regional court within two- days term. The court shall examine the appeal at an open hearing within two days of the reception thereof, summoning the appellant and the municipal administration, and shall come out with a judgment that shall be made public immediately and shall not be liable to appeal.

In the event where a voter knows in advance that he/she will be unable to exercise the right to vote in the polling division according to address of residence in the Republic of Bulgaria, he/she may acquire a certificate to vote elsewhere.

To this end, it is necessary to submit a written application to the municipal administration by the address of residence (Attachment No. 6 of the election stationery) no later than 23 May 2009 included. The identity card or the passport from the state of which the applicant is citizen and the residence permit shall be submitted for verification.

The certificates for voting elsewhere shall be received in person or by a duly authorized person with a notarized power of attorney. Each certificate shall be unique, issued in one copy and shall not be replaced with a duplicate in the case of loss.
The person who receives a certificate for voting elsewhere shall declare that he/ she shall vote only once.

Citizens of European Union Member States who have acquired electoral rights to vote in the elections for Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria and who have a command of the Bulgarian language may be members of the district electoral commission.

Citizens of European Union Member States may be nominated as candidates for Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria (passive suffrage) under the following requirements:

• to be at the age of 21 or older by the day of the elections;
• not to have citizenship in state outside the European Union;
• not to be deprived of the right to be elected in the Member State of which he/she is a citizen;
• have the status of permanent or long-term residence in the Republic of Bulgaria;
• have lived permanently in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another European Union Member-State at least 1 year and 4 months before 7 June 2009 ;
• have declared in advance his/her desire to be elected with a written statement (Attachments No. 31 or No. 32 or No. 33 of the election stationery).

He/she may run in only one European Union Member-State in the same elections in 2009. He/she may be included in the list with the candidates of a Bulgarian party, a coalition of Bulgarian parties or a nomination committee, registered in the Central Electoral Commission for election of Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria. The nomination committee shall consist of 7 voters.

Additional information for exercising passive suffrage may be found in Decision No. ЕП- 11 of 7 April 2009 of the Central Electoral Commission for election of Members of the European Parliament at: http://izboriep.bta.bg/ "Decisions of the Central Electoral Commission for election of Members of the European Parliament".

For more information see here:

“Interacting with European parliament”