Low turnout leaves a bad aftertaste in US elections

published on 6/10/24 11:55 AM

First-time voter Kalina Pandelova.

Photo: Елена Цанева

The last polling stations on the west coast of the US - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle - closed at 6pm Bulgarian time... In general, the impression is of a low turnout, said BNR correspondent in Chicago Elena Tsaneva, telling of the enthusiasm of young people across the ocean to exercise their civic right to vote:

"In Sacramento, California, the chairwoman of the election commission, Gabriela Kirilova, said that they had two very enthusiastic first-time voters, a boy and a girl. At the Little Bulgaria Center in Chicago, where there were two polling stations, 18-year-old Diana Gecheva was also voting for the first time. She was the earliest voter to arrive at this section, followed later by her peers Diana Dzheneva and Kalina Pandelova - also first-time voters.

91-year-old Bai Georgi Ivanov, who has lived in the US for more than 40 years, also voted.

Election day abroad is over

A 27-year-old young man says he sees no future in Bulgaria, but he is not giving up on voting:

"My motivation to vote is to see Bulgaria as a better European country, because I think young people are gradually emigrating more because they see no future in Bulgaria. I continue to vote because my family is there, my grandmother...".

While some still found a motive to vote, others did not... and the overall turnout remained low throughout the day. In almost all of the 55 polling stations, the number of voters was lower than in previous elections. The general impression is that there was very little or no campaigning in the US this time. Many voters did not even know there was an election, and others did not know exactly when it was. The timing was also bad, with children finishing school and many families travelling to Bulgaria or on holiday somewhere.

And although the official protocols have not yet been handed over, "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" and "Vazrazhdanie" seem to be competing for first place, but it is hard to say what the positions of the other parties are. The big surprise here was the Velichie party, which is gaining credibility and there are even sections where it has received the most votes, but let's wait for the final results.

Report by Elena Tsaneva, BNR correspondent in Chicago

Photos: Elena Tsaneva

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