Bulgarian Association for the Promotion of Citizens Initiative (BAPCI) was supported by Democracy International to observe a local referendum in the municipality of Nessebar on 28 February 2021. The observation results can be useful for other local referendums held during the pandemic, but also for the upcoming Bulgarian parliamentary election in April.

The petition-driven referendum was held to determine whether the town of Obzor and six adjacent villages should administratively break away from Nessebar on the Black Sea coast and form a new municipality. The tense relations between local authorities in Nessebar as well as the reports of attempts to tamper with voters’ registration and the administrative pressure put on local people and small businesses gave BAPCI a reason to suspect that the referendum might not be free and fair, and that people could be discouraged from voting.

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