Upon the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, the PABSEC Delegation composed of Mrs. Lyudmila BOKOVA, PABSEC Vice-President (Russian Federation), Mr. Simeon KEDIKOUGLOU, PABSEC Vice-President (Hellenic Republic) and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, the Secretary General of the PABSEC, participated in the presidential election and referendum monitoring mission in Sofia, on 6 November 2016.

In the framework of the monitoring mission, the PABSEC Delegation visited the Central Election Commission (CEC)  and had a meeting with Mrs. Evilina Alexieva, Chairperson of the CEC and other members of the Commission, who delivered information about the electoral procedure, the legislatory system, the voting machinery, as well as the function and the composition of the CEC.

On the Election day, the Monitoring Delegation visited various polling stations in different districts of Sofia, where they verified the regularity of the voting process and the observance of the electoral procedure. A common assessment of the PABSEC Delegation was that the election had  been well organized and all the regulations had been strictly followed. They estimated that the Election Day had passed without any significant incidents and the presidential election and the referendum were held in a democratic and a transparent atmosphere with high electoral participation.

The PABSEC Delegation participated in the Press Conference, held in the evening of the Day of the Election where the candidates and the political parties expressed their first statements on the election.