Political parties ‘We continue the change’ and ‘Democratic Bulgaria’ led a rally in Sofia on Thursday to protest against the return of paper ballots in elections, claiming it will lead to the manipulation of election results.
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Bulgarian Parliament, causing major disruption to traffic, before marching to the headquarters of Bulgarian National Television.
In the past few days, a newly formed political coalition between old parties (BSP, GERB-UDF and Movement for Rights and Freedoms) has made the initial steps to restore the possibility of voting with paper ballots. This method was removed in 2020, making voting only possible via machines.
“Do we want the next local assembly to have 15 per cent of the ballots invalid? No! Therefore, we will not allow them to steal our vote in the middle of the night like thieves”, said Kiril Petrov, leader of Continue the Change, as he addressed protesters.
Similar demonstrations also took place in the Bulgarian cities of Varna and Bourgas.
