Nobody expected much excitement on Friday, when the political campaign before the local elections officially kicked off in Bulgaria, but the start was especially boring this time. One of the explanations may be the expectation of some politicians that the ruling GERB party will strengthen its positions even further. Another explanation may be the caution of the parties, because for the first time alongside the elections a referendum will be held, in which the Bulgarians would answer whether they support the introduction of electronic voting.

A total of 71 parties and three coalitions will take part in the upcoming elections. Some 24 political parties, a coalition and 8 initiative committees will voice their support for electronic voting during the awareness campaign dedicated to the referendum. 6 parties and 5 committees say people should vote against electronic voting.

On the other hand, the number of supporters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party - the main opponent of GERB, has been declining despite the fact that the leadership of the party demonstrates calmness and confidence before the elections on October 25. If pollsters were right and people witnessed yet another loss for BSP, current leader Mihail Mikov would most certainly resign.

Analysts are more hesitant when speaking about the third big player – the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. On the one hand the political formation has its firm electorate that would ensure victory in certain towns, but on the other leader Lutfi Mestan has failed to establish himself as an authority figure so far and MRF might lose positions in some municipalities.

Speaking about the referendum initiated by President Rosen Plevneliev, polls show Bulgarians are mostly indifferent towards the topic. Electronic voting was just one of three questions initially proposed, but MPs rejected the other two, which were actually much more important. One concerned the possibility for introducing majority voting and the other asked if elections and referendums should become obligatory. Some experts fear that the combination of a referendum with local elections could confuse some voters. The situation after the local elections on October 25 will to a great extent determine the results of future parliamentary elections.

English version: Alexander Markov