Poll workers in Burgas have been trained ahead of Sunday's election for president and vice president. Many of them have served on election commissions before.
Voters will use a machine this year that does more than in the past. "It doesn't just print receipts, it reports the voting results," Fani Semerdzhieva, deputy chair of the regional election commission, told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).
Election staff must be able to operate the machines, not just vote with them, she said.
At one training session that BNR's Burgas bureau attended, experienced members of the section election commissions (SIK) said the most important thing is that commission members are well informed. Fire service and police representatives gave advice for the day before the vote and for election day itself.
One commission member who has worked several elections says members are not prepared. Older people join the commissions and cannot handle the protocols, he said. "Many of them are here to pocket some money," he told BNR.
He said he had downloaded and read the Central Election Commission's (CEC) guidelines himself, though he was not required to.
On Saturday, the day before the vote, the commissions receive the election materials and the machine. Semerdzhieva said SIK members will receive a few things that differ from last time. When they take the machine, they sign two handover protocols.
The regional election commission in Burgas picked the halls in mid-October for the SIK training. Sessions ran from 19 to 21 October, each starting at 6pm, with the commissions split up by district.
The phones used for video recording will not be charged in advance. They will stay plugged into the mains throughout the voting process.