On the Actual Voter Turnout in the Electoral Districts in Bulgaria

Authors:

Pages: 313-326
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/TVBB4770

Abstract:

The electoral weight of the districts in the country is determined by the actual number of voters available and their turnout. A major trend is the gradual weakening of voter turnout compared to the first post-socialist democratic elections in the 1990s. There is a significant discrepancy between the number of Bulgarian citizens eligible to vote and the actual number of voters in the country. In the absence of an “out-of-country” constituency, this casts doubt on the published official turnout figures in general, and on turnout in the constituencies. The inclusion of long-term absentee voters creates a seemingly lower turnout compared to the actual turnout. With a few exceptions, overseas voters have traditionally participated poorly in elections. The results of the recalculation of the turnout based on the matching of permanent and current addresses within the country are largely divergent and in some cases are even diametrically opposed to those obtained from the electoral statistics.

Keywords:

turnout, electoral districts, electoral weight.

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