According to the Law on Territorial Administration of the Republic of Bulgaria one of the conditions for establishment of the mayoralty is the presence of at least 100 people in the areas it covers. This figure is a result of the introduced in 2014 amendment in the Electoral Code, as long as the minimum number of people required for the creation of a mayoralty , is 350 people. The effect of this amendment is the received possibility for smaller settlements to elect their own mayors and thus to achieve greater decentralization.
Right to vote have the residents of the appropriate location not only with the permanent but also with a temporary address (if living there for more than six months). Ultimately this can lead to serious paradoxes, associated with the most likely one, very few people choose the mayor of a mayoralty, where actually live less than 100 people
That can happen in most of the newly created municipalities where people with a permanent address in the settlement actually live in big cities or abroad.
That is the reason why, lack of people to detect section of a village (minimum 20 people) is possible, too. One could also wonder whether the choice would have been real, especially in those places where not only fewer people will vote, but also they`ll have to choose between only one candidate - which will leave them without any choice and the question is how it is different than the appointment of a deputy.
Another serious problem is the lack of equipment and qualified administration to ensure the proper functioning and performance of the tasks of the mayoral institution level. This obstacle is often noted, and it is associated with the inability to provide adequate building which meets the conditions and the lack of enough people to become part of the administration of mayoralty.
The National Register of Settlements for 31.12.2014 shows that 3403 settlements were with more than 100 people, of which 265 - municipalities. In compare the same record for October 2011, when previous local elections were held, shows that settlements,with more than 350 people, have been 2028, and in 2012 of them, were held elections for mayor. That becomes clear almost double the growth of the settlements, who will exercise their right to vote, choosing the mayor of mayoralty.
There is no way problems, related to the upcoming local elections, to be looked without the financial side.
Unnecessarily increasing the required financial resources for elections - the creation of sectional electoral commissions and all costs associated with the regulation of elections, which are not needed for settlements with real population, much less than that in registers. Additional funds will be needed for the creation of material conditions and maintenance of the administration in the new settlements.
This article is part of MOVE.BG`s programme in support of electoral reform "Elections: Direction future" " The publication of Handbook for electoral reform is coming in the end of October, but meantime check its page on Facebook.
Sources:
Law on Local Government and Local Administration;
Law of the administrative territorial system of the Republic of Bulgaria
Electoral Code
Author: Svilena Todorova Todorova, "Political Science"student in Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski ", participant in the program "Elections: Direction the future"
"I am interested in processes that form civil society and determine the direction in which it moves. The electoral attitudes and behavior of the parties are a reflection of society and as such they are also interesting to me."
photo: bgDNES.bg
