Bulgaria early parliamentary elections 2024: ODIHR election observation mission final report

Bulgaria's 2024 early parliamentary elections were competitive, with fundamental freedoms respected and legislation providing an adequate framework to hold democratic elections.

Preparations for election day were smooth, but various malpractices limited voters' access to the electoral process and to information of public interest.

Although the media landscape is diverse, inadequate implementation of media ownership regulations continues to be an issue. Women's political participation remains limited, with no special legislative measures in place to improve the situation.

These are some of the main conclusions from the final report on the June elections published today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The report offers 15 recommendations to improve the election process and support efforts to bring it further in line with the commitments made by all OSCE states, as well as other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.

Key recommendations include:

• Increasing transparency by providing meaningful access to all aspects of the electoral process;
• Addressing vote-buying allegations promptly, holding responsible parties accountable, and carrying out large-scale public education programmes for communities vulnerable to vote-buying;
• Passing legislation to protect journalists from abusive court proceedings on defamation grounds, including dismissing unfounded cases, awarding legal costs, and imposing penalties on parties initiating such proceedings;
• Reviewing the legal framework to allow individuals and not only public officials and institutions to challenge election results, in line with international standards.

ODIHR deployed an Election Expert Team on 22 May 2024, which remained in the country until 13 June.

All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to following up promptly on ODIHR's election assessments and recommendations. ODIHR's electoral recommendations database tracks the implementation of previous recommendations across the OSCE region.