By 1pm today, 842 of the 1,567 prosecutors entitled to vote, or 53.73%, had voted in the runoff for the prosecutors' seats on the Supreme Judicial Council, the council's press office said.
The first round was held on Saturday, 24 October. Twenty-five candidates competed for four seats on the prosecutors' college, and 1,363 magistrates voted, but no one won enough votes to be elected.
The background: Prosecutors vote Saturday to pick four Supreme Judicial Council members from 25 candidates
Plamen Petkov, a prosecutor at the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office, got the most votes in that round, with 479. Ivaylo Iliev of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Kyustendil was next with 400, followed by Krasimira Filipova of the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office with 365 and Dobrinka Kalcheva with 337.
If the runoff also fails to produce enough candidates with the required majority, the seats go to those with the most votes. In a tie, the election commission draws lots in front of the candidates involved.
Five candidates have their own representatives: Krasimira Filipova, Desislava Petrova (deputy head of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office), Georgi Chinev (head of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Burgas), Ivaylo Iliev and Plamen Petkov. The representatives can attend every stage.
Observers registered by the Prosecutors' College have the same right. They are authorised representatives of the Forum Association, the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, the Awake People association and the Justice for All association, as well as media representatives.
When voting ends in each polling section, the council will provide a public live video feed and a video recording of the opening of the ballot box, the counting of the ballots, the check on whether they are valid and the number of votes for each candidate. It will also record how the protocol is drawn up, read out and announced, and how the election documents and materials are packed and sealed. The broadcast is on the council's website.