Bulgarian Foreign Ministry 'Sorry' for Publishing Expat Voters Addresses

The Head of the Commission in charge of organizing the vote of Bulgarians abroad at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Radi Naydenov, has issued an apology for the publishing of addresses of Bulgarian expats, who registered to vote.

Naydenov has been approached by the Bulgarian Dnevnik daily to comment on outrage among Bulgarian diaspora after the Ministry published on its site nearly 37 000 permanent addresses in the country of Bulgarians residing abroad.

According to the Election Code annex, available on the official page of the Central Electoral Commission, CEK, the public lists of individuals, who are going to vote outside the country, must include only names and the respective voting poll. The addresses are only for internal use.

Naydenov explained the blunder Monday with his office having to process a very large amount of data. He admitted that the addresses have been published around 6 pm Saturday and have been removed at 8 am Sunday and that the Election Code does not call for their publishing. He pointed out this is why these addresses were deleted after employees realized the mistake.

"This is an omission on our part that we regret," he said.

Naydenov declined commenting intentions of some expats to sue the Ministry over the blunder with their personal data, only saying this would be an expression of their free will.