Deadline for Bulgarians to register to vote abroad in 2026 presidential elections is September 29
The deadline for Bulgarians to register to vote abroad in the autumn 2026 presidential elections is September 29, Central Electoral Commission (CEC) spokesperson Stoyanka Balova-Tsvetkova told a briefing on September 1.
According to the timeline posted on the CEC’s official website “A Bulgarian citizen who has the right to vote and wishes to vote outside the country shall declare this through a written application using a form or through an electronic application via the CEC website”.
About 300 machines are planned to be used for overseas voting.
As The Sofia Globe reported on July 30, Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted that day to approve the second and final reading of amendments to the Electoral Code. The amendments make it mandatory to use a machine to vote at polling stations that have at least 300 registered voters.
In Bulgaria, a total of 9400 polling stations will have machine voting in the autumn 2026 elections.
It is planned to prepare up to 12 800 machines – all the devices that the state has.
Balova-Tsvetkova said that the CEC is considering placing two machines in polling stations with a larger flow of voters. The specific criteria for this are yet to be determined by a decision of the commission. The goal is to avoid crowds and the formation of queues on election day.
She also provided details about the planned awareness campaign for machine voting. The idea is to place demonstration devices in places with high traffic, where the public will be able to try out how to vote for themselves.
Among the options being discussed are placing machines in busy locations in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, including the metro or the Sofia University Rectorate. They would remain there for a certain period of time so that passersby could familiarise themselves with how the devices work and cast a test vote.
The awareness campaign will not be limited to large cities. Demonstrations are also planned in smaller towns.
Starting September 2, the CEC will begin accepting documents for registration of parties and coalitions to participate in the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
Initiative committees will be able to submit documents for registration from September 7 to 14. After that, the registration of candidates will take place, which must be completed by September 22.
The election campaign begins on September 25 and ends at midnight on October 23.
Bulgarians go to the polls in regular presidential elections on October 25. Should no candidate win more than 50 per cent on that date, a second round will be held on November 1 between the candidates with the two largest shares of votes.
(Archive photo: president.bg)
