Bulgaria’s government budgets 151.1M leva for October 2023 municipal elections
Bulgaria’s government has allocated 151.1 million leva for the country’s mayoral and municipal elections, the first round of which will be held on October 29 2023, the government information service said.
These are scheduled elections, with Bulgaria electing its local governments every four years.
The statement listed the activities to be funded from the allocation.
These include preparation and printing of voters rolls, materials such as voting envelopes and logistics by regional and municipal administrations and the government administration.
The funds are also intended to cover pay of municipal and sectional election commissions, Interior Ministry security measures, an awareness campaign, training of members of the sectional election commissions and organisation of polling stations in schools and other places.
The government is ready to provide further funding related to voting machines once the Central Electoral Commission concludes contracts, the statement said.
As The Sofia Globe reported earlier, on August 30 the government agreed to transfer 81 million leva for the actual costs of the country’s April 2 2023 early parliamentary elections.
In all, the five elections in Bulgaria in the past three years – parliamentary and presidential, scheduled and early – have cost about 400 million leva. That, however, does not provide the full picture, because elections also have seen additional spending, on items such as voting machines, finalised after the initial allocations.
(Photo: president.bg)
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