Polling station commissions in Sofia's 23rd and 25th election districts have handed in all their protocols from the presidential election at the Arena 8888 hall, the heads of the two district commissions said. The 25th district had problems: machine counts did not match the control receipts, and some machines still had memory sticks inside.

Earlier in the day, the 23rd district handed in its protocols without trouble, while the 25th had difficulties. Towards the end, several more polling stations still had problems, said Georgi Ralev, head of the 25th district commission (RIK 25). Commission members counted their control receipts in front of everyone.

In one case there were two more receipts than the machine showed votes. Some receipts had not been counted by the machine, and some were blank. A check showed the figures in the polling station protocols were correct but differed from the machine count, so RIK 25 decided to count the votes.

In two cases the memory sticks stayed in the machines, which were then taken to the warehouse of Siela Norma AD. Ralev said checking for memory sticks is more the job of the technician Siela Norma sends than of the polling station commissions, which have other tasks. Blank receipts turn up in every election, so they were expected, he added.

Ralev said commissions find it hard to react when the machine and the protocol do not match. "We have no guidance or support from the Central Election Commission on how to work in these cases," he told BTA.

While protocols were being handed in, a polling station commission member collapsed in the hall. A medical team carried him out on a stretcher, Ralev said.

More than 98,100 people have voted in the 25th district, putting turnout at 27.9%. The district has 513 polling stations, 7 of them ex officio and 3 mobile.

Daniel Tunchev, head of the 23rd district commission (RIK 23), said election day in the district went well. Several polling stations had not brought their final protocols, and the district commission decided to have them filled in on the spot. "They had drafts and it became clear they had no errors, so the omission was fixed," Tunchev told BTA.

By the end of the day, turnout in the 23rd district was 36.46%. It was highest in Studentski Grad, followed by Lozenets and Krasno Selo. The district has 636 polling stations, 5 of them mobile and 23 ex officio.

The 24th district has 503 polling stations, and all but one used voting machines. The three Sofia districts have more than 1,600 polling stations in all.

Information Services is processing the protocols. The district commissions will then draw up protocols with the combined data and send them to the Central Election Commission, Ralev said.

Two pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates will run in the runoff. Tunchev expects the organisation to be the same and to go without problems. He said that with two pairs, the protocols will be easier to fill in and there should be no errors.

In Burgas region, 653 voting machines were sent to polling stations and tested, and the rooms were sealed before the vote, we reported on 24 October. Petko Kalev of Siela Norma said that when the technician arrives at a polling station, he opens the machine and checks it in front of the commission.

Ralev said machine voting is convenient, but the paperwork around it needs work. He does not expect the problems to be solved before the runoff.