GERB with 2nd Try on Ethnic Turkish Stronghold of Kardzhali

The Administrative Court in the southern Bulgarian city of Kardzhali fulfilled Tuesday the request of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party (GERB) to have a ballot recount.

Last week, the GERB Member of the Parliament and party leader for the Kardzhali region, Tsveta Karayancheva, filed a claim with the Municipal Electoral Commission (OIC) against its October 24 decision to declare Hasan Azis, from the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), mayor-reelect of the city.

The decision was issued in the aftermath of the first round of the local elections on October 23.

The claim demands a manual ballot recount and recall of the results if there are proven violations. The claim lists a number of such violations – adding 71 people to voters' lists at the last moment, using 355 or more ballots not having the correct form under the directives of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), and protocols where the time of the closing of the voting polls was not listed, among others. GERB is asking for the Court to hear testimony from 8 witnesses.

DPS dismiss the claim as unfounded, but say they want to provide their own witnesses as well.

OIC insist the protocols were filled correctly and the recount would not change the outcome.

Judge, Victor Atanasov, ruled to have OIC provide the first six bags with ballots and to start the recount at 3:30 pm.

Bulgarian news agency BGNES notes that GERB's lawyer, Nikolay Margaritov, had been elected as municipal councilor on the GERB ballot.