Courting voters who abstained before
For some, the presidential elections are not an add-on the general elections but an issue in their own right.
“My dislike of Radev is the reason I’m voting in the presidential elections,” 38-year-old Stanislav Borisov, working in law, told BIRN.
He’s felt critical of Radev ever since he opposed EU sanctions against Russia in 2018 and describes the President as a populist who escapes taking firm positions on important geopolitical issues.
Borisov didn’t vote at all in April or July, as he felt out of options, but has less reservations about the presidential elections, when the vote is for a person.
“And since these are ‘2-in-1’ elections, why not also vote for a party?” he asks, rhetorically. “My main motivation to vote this time is to prevent the influence of ‘There is Such a Nation’ and give a chance for a regular government to be formed.” He would support a party “that plays by democracy’s rules”.
Apart from possibly attracting votes from disappointed “There is Such a Nation” voters, “We Continue the Change” is also engaging with people who didn’t vote before.
“I didn’t vote in the 2021 elections as I didn’t see any real alternative to GERB,” 52-year-old Georgi Georgiev told BIRN. An engineer by training, now developing a private business, he is inspired by “We Continue The Change” and has met its co-leaders, which has solidified his trust.
“I like their way of thinking. In November I’ll vote, as finally I see a political power that can change Borissov’s model of governing,” Georgiev added.
Some have had enough with parties
“I voted in the previous two elections but I’m skeptical about the next polls; it’s all a waste of time without any progress in the overall situation,” 31-year-old Mariana Gospodinova told BIRN.
She’s one of the many Bulgarians living in Spain, 122,813 of them, according to the National Statistical Institute of Spain’s census from 2019.
Based in Madrid, she is working as a programmer. Polling stations for Bulgarian elections are few and far between there, which creates logistical issues for non-drivers especially. Long queues and chaos are also a concern: “In the April elections the organisation was very poor, but in July it was fine,” she recalled.
In an interview with Bulgarian National Radio on October 27, Stoil Tzezelkov, of the Central Voting Commission, said voters abroad might be troubled by the slow distribution of voting machines to some areas, while in Bulgaria the raging pandemic may encourage some to abstain from voting.
Bulgaria’s perceived mishandling of the pandemic is why some have lost faith in any government’s ability to solve the situation.
“I voted in April, as I thought a stable government might handle the current crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” 30-year-old Stanislav Kaschiyski, a specialist in digital advertising, told BIRN. “By July I didn’t have these hopes anymore but I still voted because a person I know, like and believe in was running for an MP.”
He is disappointed that the pandemic is not being discussed by the politicians in detail. Bulgaria is seeing a surge in cases, hospitalisations and deaths, caused by confused measures and slow vaccination rollout.
“None of the parties shows a bare minimum of qualities and potential,” observed Kaschiyski. “It’s the same with the presidential runners. There are 200 people dying every day and a rising mortality rate. I no longer want to occupy myself with party battles or follow all the behind-the-scenes scheming – plus the candidate MP I voted for is no longer running in my region,” he said.
