14 parties and coalitions will run in the extraordinary municipal council elections in Sandanski, scheduled for February 23, BNR reported.
The results of the local vote in the municipal councilors section were annulled in October last year, after a final court decision.
The results of the local elections were contested in 10 of the 14 municipalities in Blagoevgrad district, but only in Sandanski was the municipal council vote annulled in full. There were three complaints filed by parties and candidates for municipal councilors, alleging that the local elections were manipulated and the vote was flawed. The court cases continued for almost a year, and in the end, the magistrates confirmed that serious manipulations had been established in the counting and reporting of the ballots.
After the final court decision to annul the elections for municipal councilors, the Municipal Election Commission in Sandanski sent the documents to the Central Election Commission with a request that the president schedule extraordinary local elections for the Municipal Council, which will be held on February 23. 14 parties and coalitions have registered to participate, and by January 21 they must also submit the lists of candidates for municipal councilors. The Municipal Council has been operating in its current composition for almost a year, and during this period, not a single decision has been returned by the regional administration as illegal.