Bulgaria Imposes Compulsory Voting to Increase Turnout
- Lawmakers vote 109 to 74 to back amendment to Election Code
- Opposition says ruling is 'inadmissable, unconstitutional'
About 40 percent of Bulgarians said they won’t vote in a general election, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Alpha Research polling agency in Sofia.
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Bulgaria imposed compulsory voting in an effort to boost turnout as public trust in politicians declines amid widespread allegations of graft.
Lawmakers voted 109 to 74 with 10 abstentions to adopt a legal amendment to the Election Code that says voting is a “civic duty” compulsory for all, Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva said in Sofia on Thursday. A draft proposal, which is yet to be voted on, envisages deleting the names of people who don’t vote from the electoral rolls and forcing them to re-register with the city councils when they decide to vote again.