Council of Europe - Venice Commission

BULGARIA - Election Code

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Paragraph 1

Within the meaning given by this Code:

1. A Bulgarian citizen who "has resided in Bulgaria in the last five years" shall be any such citizen who had actual residence and permanent abode within the territory of Bulgaria during more than half of the time of each of the five years preceding the date of the elections. The stay outside the Republic of Bulgaria shall also qualify as residing in Bulgaria for the time during which a Bulgarian citizen was sent there by the Bulgarian State.
2. A person who "has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union for at least in the last three months" shall be:

a) any Bulgarian citizen who had a permanent-address or a present-address registration within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union;
b) any citizen of a Member State of the European Union who has a residence address within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or of another Member State of the European Union, for at least 60 days in the last three months as of the date of conduct of the elections. The stay outside the Republic of Bulgaria shall also qualify as residing in Bulgaria for the time during which a Bulgarian citizen was sent there by the Bulgarian State.

3. A person who "has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least during the last six months" shall be:

a) any Bulgarian citizen who had a permanent-address or a present-address registration within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union;
b) any citizen of a Member State of the European Union who has a residence address within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or of another Member State of the European Union, for at least 6 onths as of the date of conduct of the elections. The stay outside the Republic of Bulgaria shall also qualify as residing in Bulgaria for the time during which a Bulgarian citizen was sent there by the Bulgarian State.

4. A person who "has resided in the respective settlement for at least in the last six months", within the meaning given by Art. 396 herein, shall be:

a) any Bulgarian citizen who had a permanent-address or a present-address registration within the territory of the respective municipality or mayoralty;
b) any Bulgarian citizen who had a permanent-address or a present-address registration in different municipalities and mayoralties within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
c) any national of a Member State of the European Union who has a residence address within the territory of respective municipality or mayoralty, at a date preceding the date of conduct of the elections by 6 months, and the persons who have changed the address registration thereof shall have the right to vote according to the previous address registration thereof, where the said persons are included in the electoral rolls.

5. A person who "has resided in the respective settlement for at least in the last six months", within the meaning given by Art. 397 herein, shall be:

6. "Residence address" shall be the address whereat a person is registered upon the stay thereof in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union.
7. (suppl. – SG 97/16, amend. - SG 34/19) "Long-term resident status and permanent residence" shall be a status acquired under the terms and according to the procedure established by the Act on Entry into, Residence in, and Exit from, the Republic of Bulgaria by European Union Citizens and Family Members Thereof.
8. "Identity document" shall be:

a) personal identity card;
b) internal (green) passport: applicable only to citizens availing themselves of the provision of § 9a of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Bulgarian Personal Documents Act;;
c) passport (foreign travel) of a citizen present outside the Republic of Bulgaria on the day of the elections;
d) seafarer’s passport of a citizen present on board a navigation vessel flying the Bulgarian flag on the day of the elections;
e) military card of a professional service person present outside the Republic of Bulgaria on the day of the elections;

9. (amend. - SG 39/16, in force from 26.05.2016) "Coalition of parties" shall be a pre-election alliance of political parties, which is registered at the Central Election Commission, formed for the purpose of participation in a particular type of elections;
10. Parties and coalitions of parties "represented in Parliament" shall be the parties and coalitions of parties which participated in the last elections of National Representatives and had a parliamentary group at the National Assembly at the date of scheduling of the respective type of elections.
11. "Conspicuous place" shall be a place within the territory of the polling station, outside the premises of the municipal administration, which is accessible to the general public and is protected against atmospheric impact and trespasses for the purpose of the physical preservation thereof.
12. (suppl. - SG 39/16, in force from 26.05.2016) "National electoral quota" shall be the quotient resulting from the division of the total number of valid votes at the national level, other than those under Art. 279, Para 1, Item 6, by the number of the Members of the European Parliament for the Republic of Bulgaria; where the quotient is not an integer, the national electoral quota shall be the nearest integer greater than the said quotient.
13. (suppl. - SG 39/16, in force from 26.05.2016) "Constituency electoral quota" shall be the quotient resulting from the division of the total number of valid votes, other than those under Art. 279, Para 1, Item 6, cast in the multi-member constituency by the number of seats allocated for the said constituency; where the quota is not an integer, the constituency electoral quota shall be the nearest integer greater than the said quotient.
14. (suppl. - SG 39/16, in force from 26.05.2016) "Municipal electoral quota" shall be the quotient resulting from the division of the total number of valid votes, other than those under Art. 438, Para 1, Item 7, cast for municipal councillors in the municipality by the number of members of the Municipal Council; where the quota is not an integer, the municipal electoral quota shall be the nearest integer greater than the said quotient.
15. (suppl. - SG 21/19, in force from 12.03.2019) "Media service" shall be the creation and dissemination of information and content which are intended for reception by, and which could have a clear impact on, a significant proportion of the general public, irrespective of the means and technology used for transmission of the said information and content. The following shall be media services:

a) the print media (newspapers, magazines and other periodical publications);
b) media disseminated over electronic communications networks, such as:
aa) public and commercial broadcasters (registered or licensed public or commercial providers of audio-visual media services or radio services);
bb) online news-services (online editions of newspapers, magazines, news agencies and other electronic publications). The social networks (Facebook, Twitter and other such) and the personal blogs shall not be media services, with the exception of the profiles in social networks of the media under letters "a" and "b".

16. "Media service provider" shall be a sole-trader natural person or a legal person who or which has editorial responsibility for the choice of the content of the media service and determines the manner in which the said service is organized. "Editorial responsibility" shall be the exercise of effective control over the content, the programme schedules and the catalogue of the services provided.
17. "Campaigning" shall be the call for support or non-support of a candidate, political party, coalition of parties or nomination committee upon participation in elections. Names and symbols of a political party or coalition of parties, placed on objects which does not contain calls for support shall not be considered campaigning within the meaning of this Code. Participation of candidates in entertainment shows, movies, series, as well as their broadcasting during the election campaign, including self-promotion of such shows, movies, series, shall not be considered campaigning unless containing calls for support or for non-support.
18. (suppl. - SG 39/16, in force from 26.05.2016) "Public administrative resources" shall be budget funds, premises, automobiles, aircrafts and other means of transportation, equipment and other movable and immovable property - owned by the state or the municipality, provided to the administration, state and local authorities and the state and municipal enterprises, as well as the labour of the employees in the administration.
19. "Repeated violation" shall be the violation, conducted within three months following the enforcement of a penalty decree by which a penalty has been imposed for the same violation.