Voting in Sofia's runoff began with a few technical problems with voting machines. Two machines in the Vitosha district and two in Lozenets are faulty, but no polling station has yet switched to paper ballots.
Sofia's voter rolls, kept by the GRAO civil registry, list 300 fewer people than in the first round. Daniel Tunchev, chair of the 23rd Regional Election Commission (RIK), said the cause could be a technical error, deaths, or certificates that let people vote elsewhere. "300 people is not worrying for such a large number of voters," Tunchev told BNT.
Polling station 39 in School No. 12 opened half an hour late because its deputy chair had trouble getting there.
At School No. 7, which has eight polling stations, people were waiting at the doors as early as 7am. One of the first voters came early because of a commitment outside the capital later, and also voted in the first round. Another said they are always among the first. A third skipped the first round and voted in the runoff to raise turnout and back their choice.
Studentski Grad was empty in the morning, even though it had the highest turnout in the first round, at 47%. A member of the local polling station commission said only three people had voted by then. Konstantin Tsvetkov, also a commission member, said few people had voted because it was still early. "If 50% voted last time, we hope for 75% now," he told BNT.
The chairs of the regional election commissions called on people to go out and vote.
Police at the 4th district station have so far received one report of campaigning.