Partial elections for mayor were held Saturday in the town of Velingrad, Southern Bulgaria, after a supreme court stripped Fidel Beev of his 2003 elections victory.

Three candidates ran for the post - Fidel Beev, nominated by the Bulgarian Republican Bloc, the independent Angel Toporchev and acting mayor Atanas Vodev, supported by the Simeon II National Movement, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the Union of Democratic Forces, the Union of Free Democrats and BANU - Popular Union.

Some 34,000 citizens of the town of Velingrad were eligible to vote in Saturday's elections.

The counting of the ballots continued late into Saturday's night.

In the run-off poll of the mayoral elections in 2003, Beev garnered some 60% of the votes as speculations emerged that that the kidnapping of his daughter Dessislava days before the second round of the elections has been set up.

Dessislava returned home safe and sound a day after her father declared victory in the elections.

Beev and his daughter Dessislava took a lie detector test in a bid to thwart speculations. The test results were negative.

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