The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready with the organization of the vote abroad on November 14, 2021

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed to organize the elections abroad, providing the opportunities for a fair and democratic vote. This was stated by the Chairman of the Elections Working Group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ivan Kondov and his Deputy Chairman Kalin Anastasov, accounting before the media for the work done by the MFA on the upcoming November 14, 2021 vote abroad for President and Vice President and National Assembly.

The leadership of the Elections WG assured that the vote abroad on Sunday is fully secured from a technical and organizational point of view. "We have provided the premises, technical means, the ballots have been sent, the machines are also traveling. In many places, they have already arrived", the chairman of the Elections WG said and expressed confidence that the vote on November 14 will take place in a calm atmosphere.

This year, for the third time, the Central Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our foreign missions are organizing elections abroad in all parts of the world - from Vancouver, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa and Argentina, to the northernmost regions of Norway. On November 14, Bulgarian citizens will be able to exercise their right to vote abroad in 751 polling stations in 68 countries. For the first time, a section is now opening in Bahrain. Bulgarian citizens will be able to vote on two islands in the UK - Mann and Jersey.

What is the balance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 3 days before the vote?

-    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transported over 1,300,000 ballots and ballot papers within the last 8 days, all of which have reached their destination and remain to be distributed to the sections;

-    All 416 machines have been delivered to the central hubs in the respective countries. They are then transported to the polling stations. Our compatriots will be able to vote by machines, in 208 polling stations in 21 countries, and in each of them there will be two machines.

-    Most machines are sent to Turkey - in 46 sections there will be 96 machines; in Great Britain - in 46 sections 92 machines, in Germany - in 42 sections there will be 84 machines.

-    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends 360 people abroad, and about 80 of them will carry ballot papers. Over 2,500 people are nominated by the Bulgarian communities through our foreign representations as members of the SEC. Over 200 representatives of the Bulgarian communities will be representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the SEC. About 1,200 people have been nominated for SEC members abroad by political parties after consultations.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bulgarian communities have provided organizational and technical work of the SEC abroad. The health procedures of the host countries have been taken into account and all necessary measures have been taken to provide preparations, masks, protective barriers, etc. requirements, if necessary. All premises that have been inspected have been certified so that an election process can take place to the extent declared to local authorities. At the moment, there is no country whose anti-epidemic measures prevent the voting, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on our compatriots abroad to be informed about the local restrictions and rules that will apply on the day of the elections in the respective country. Requirements are also published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the "Coronavirus - how to travel" section;

-    The final addresses of the polling stations, as well as lists of those wishing to vote, are also published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://www.mfa.bg/bg/3715

Difficulties and challenges

During the preparation of the vote abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also encountered a number of difficulties and obstacles. The leaders of the Elections WG stressed that a big problem for the Ministry in organizing the elections abroad remain the short deadlines set in the Electoral Code for the delivery of ballots and ballot papers, and now machines, as well as the deadlines for the formation of SECs abroad. The epidemic situation in our country, as well as in the countries where the vote will take place abroad, is also a challenge.

The leaders of the Elections WG again called on the next National Assembly to consider these issues, including the possibility of voting by mail.

Voting machines were also received late, which makes it difficult to transport them to the polling stations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the machines from the CEC for these elections 25 days earlier, and they were received eight days before the elections. "We started work immediately, we sent some of the machines the same day, but these short deadlines are very worrying", Ivan Kondov said.

The short deadlines remain serious challenge in the event of a second round for the November 21 presidential election. The management of the Elections WG pointed out that if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not receive the machines, ballot papers and ballots by November 16 in the morning, their delivery on time and in all sections will be very difficult. We were also informed about this by the partners from the DHL company, according to which the delivery to the greatest extent could happen on time, if the shipments are delivered to the company on Monday, November 15.

"New Zealand, Australia, part of Africa and part of the West Coast and the central states of the United States, and Canada are problematic destinations. Our partners cannot guarantee their delivery. To this end, we have hired a large number of people who will fly by plane in order to ensure the availability of ballots at least in the largest sections in these countries", Kalin Anastasov said.

Another significant problem is related to the training of SEC members. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed to provide a technical platform for conducting distance learning to SEC members, but this was not implemented. The CEC's guidelines for the work of sectional commissions abroad were also published too late.

There remains the challenge of returning the ballot papers, which according to the Electoral Code shall be carried by diplomatic mail accompanied by a diplomatic courier. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends hundreds of people to return the ballots as hand luggage. This is a huge, energy-intensive and expensive task. A proposal was made to return them by unaccompanied diplomatic mail, but it was not accepted by the CEC.

"We are grateful to our partners, especially from the airlines, who made an exceptional gesture to us by  allowing accompanied luggage more than 30 kg to be taken on board", Kalin Anastasov said, adding that there will be sections that will return to Bulgaria 40-50 kg hand luggage per person.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs again expresses its gratitude to the Bulgarian communities abroad, which are the basis for the organization of the vote, to the diplomatic and consular missions, as well as to the departments and organizations that provided logistical assistance in the preparation of the elections abroad.