Today, parliamentary elections are taking place in Bulgaria to elect the 240 members of the52nd National Assembly. More than 6.5 million citizens are eligible to vote.

A total of14 political parties, 10 coalitions, and one independent candidateare taking part in the elections. Nearly 12,000 polling stations have been opened across the country, along with 493 polling stations in 55 countries abroad.

Voting by machine is available in more than 9,300 polling stations. For the first time, 100% of the voting machines were inspected prior to election day, with 100 public officials involved in the process. Previously, only about one third of the machines were checked.

Another first in these elections is the introduction of 400 tactile templates to assist visually impaired voters. They will be distributed to polling stations for people with disabilities in Sofia, Plovdiv, and Blagoevgrad, where the highest number of visually impaired citizens live, according to the Union of the Blind.

Voting takes place in 31 multi-member constituencies. In polling stations with more than 300 registered voters, citizens may choose between machine voting and paper ballots. Throughout election day, voters can submit reports, photos, and videos via a dedicated online platform.