Ministry of Interior: Assistance for voting of citizens without identity documents in the elections

The units of the "Bulgarian Identity Documents" (BID) directorate within the Ministry of Interior will assist Bulgarian citizens who do not possess valid identity documents to exercise their right to vote on election day, the Ministry of Interior announced.

For citizens who have already submitted an application for a new ID card, the issuance will be expedited, or a certificate will be issued for a lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed identity document (ID card, personal /green/ passport) or an ID card with an expired validity period; If it is impossible to issue a new ID card by the end of the working day on April 17 this year, at the request of the citizens, the necessary certificate will be issued to them, with which to vote.

In order for a certificate to be issued, it is necessary for citizens to personally submit a request to the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs (SDIA), the regional directorates (RD) of the Ministry of Interior or the regional police stations (RP) on the days from the 14th to the 18th of April this year from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on April 19 this year from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. In case the working hours of the respective BID unit are different, the certificates will be issued within the working hours of the unit, and the period of April 18, Saturday and April 19, Sunday will be mandatory.

Information about the working hours of each BID unit is posted at the entrance of the premises where administrative services are provided to citizens regarding identity documents and on the website of SDIA and RDMIA.

The certificates, providing the opportunity to exercise the right to vote in the elections for the National Assembly, are issued only after the acceptance of an application for the issuance of an ID card. In case of a submitted and registered application for the issuance of an ID card at a permanent address, a certificate can be issued in any RP, SDIA and RDMIA regardless of the declared permanent and current address. Certificates for declared permanent and current address are issued by the municipal administration.

The certificate is issued to be used only before the section election commission and is valid for election day, April 19, the Ministry of Interior also said.

BTA reminds that on April 19, parliamentary elections will be held, in which 24 formations will participate - 14 parties and 10 coalitions. The formations have registered candidate lists in all electoral districts. A total of 4786 candidates for Members of Parliament have been registered for the parliamentary vote.

/RI/