Bulgaria is divided into 31 multi-member constituencies for the purposes of elections to the National Assembly.
Background
Bulgaria is divided into 28 provinces. Most of these correspond exactly to the constituencies, but Sofia City Province is divided in 3 and Plovdiv Province is divided in 2.[1] Plovdiv Province is divided between the 16th MMC (consisting of the City of Plovdiv) and the 17th MMC (consisting of the rest of the province). Sofia City Province (not to be confused with Sofia Province) is divided between the 23rd (southern Sofia), 24th (central and eastern Sofia), and 25th (western Sofia) MMCs.
In addition to their names, constituencies are numbered from 1 to 31 according to their order in the Cyrillic alphabet. There are a total of 240 seats in the National Assembly, and each constituency elects between 4 (the guaranteed minimum number of seats in a constituency) and 16 members of parliament.
List of constituencies
- 1st MMC – Blagoevgrad
- 2nd MMC – Burgas
- 3rd MMC – Varna
- 4th MMC – Veliko Tarnovo
- 5th MMC – Vidin
- 6th MMC – Vratsa
- 7th MMC – Gabrovo
- 8th MMC – Dobrich
- 9th MMC – Kardzhali
- 10th MMC – Kyustendil
- 11th MMC – Lovech
- 12th MMC – Montana
- 13th MMC – Pazardzhik
- 14th MMC – Pernik
- 15th MMC – Pleven
- 16th MMC – Plovdiv-city
- 17th MMC – Plovdiv-province
- 18th MMC – Razgrad
- 19th MMC – Ruse
- 20th MMC – Silistra
- 21st MMC – Sliven
- 22nd MMC – Smolyan
- 23rd MMC – Sofia-city 23
- 24th MMC – Sofia-city 24
- 25th MMC – Sofia-city 25
- 26th MMC – Sofia-province
- 27th MMC – Stara Zagora
- 28th MMC – Targovishte
- 29th MMC – Haskovo
- 30th MMC – Shumen
- 31st MMC – Yambol
Seat allocation by constituency
Below is the numbers of MPs allocated to each constituency by election year. The number of MPs in 2009 only adds up to 209 because of the electoral system experiment of that year (see further below).
| MMC | Constituency | Seats | ||||
| 2005 | 2009* | 2013 | 2014 | 2017[2] | ||
| 1 | Blagoevgrad | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 2 | Burgas | 13 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 3 | Varna | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 4 | Veliko Tarnovo | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | Vidin | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Vratsa | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Gabrovo | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 8 | Dobrich | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | Kardzhali | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 | Kyustendil | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 11 | Lovech | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 12 | Montana | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 13 | Pazardzhik | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 14 | Pernik | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | Pleven | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 16 | Plovdiv-city | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 17 | Plovdiv-province | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 18 | Razgrad | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 19 | Ruse | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 20 | Silistra | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 21 | Sliven | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 22 | Smolyan | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 23 | Sofia-23 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 24 | Sofia-24 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 25 | Sofia-25 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 26 | Sofia-province | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 27 | Stara Zagora | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 28 | Targovishte | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 29 | Haskovo | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 30 | Shumen | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 31 | Yambol | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 240 | 209* | 240 | 240 | 240 | |
2009 experiment
As an experiment, the 2009 election was conducted with a different electoral system than earlier elections. 31 out of the 240 MPs were elected through first-past-the-post voting, while the remaining 209 were elected through party-list proportional representation using the largest remainder method. This mixed electoral system was rejected for use in further elections, and the old system was returned in the next election in 2013.
The following 31 members of the National Assembly were elected through first-past-the-post in 2009:
| MMC | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blagoevgrad | Lyuben Petrov Tatarski | GERB | |
| Burgas | Bozhidar Dimitrov Stoyanov | GERB | |
| Varna | Krasimir Petrov Petrov | GERB | |
| Veliko Tarnovo | Tsvetan Genchev Tsvetanov | GERB | |
| Vidin | Lyubomila Stanislavova Stanislavova | GERB | |
| Vratsa | Nikolay Goranov Kotsev | GERB | |
| Gabrovo | Galina Dimitrova Bankovska | GERB | |
| Dobrich | Rumen Ivanov Ivanov | GERB | |
| Kardzhali | Ahmed Demir Dogan | DPS | |
| Kyustendil | Valentin Tonchev Mikev | GERB | |
| Lovech | Anatoliy Velikov Jordanov | GERB | |
| Montana | Plamen Georgiev Tsekov | GERB | |
| Pazardzhik | Ivan Dimitrov Ivanov | GERB | |
| Pernik | Irena Lyubenova Sokolova | GERB | |
| Pleven | Tsetska Tsacheva Dangovska | GERB | |
| Plovdiv-city | Menda Kirilova Stoyanova | GERB | |
| Plovdiv-province | Dimitar Nikolov Lazarov | GERB | |
| Razgrad | Hasan Ahmed Ademov | DPS | |
| Ruse | Plamen Dulchev Nunev | GERB | |
| Silistra | Mithat Mehmed Tabakov | DPS | |
| Sliven | Desislava Zhekova Taneva | GERB | |
| Smolyan | Daniela Anastasova Daritkova-Prodanova | GERB | |
| Sofia-23 | Boris Krumov Grozdanov | GERB | |
| Sofia-24 | Monika Hans Panayotova | GERB | |
| Sofia-25 | Krasimir Lyubomirov Velchev | GERB | |
| Sofia-province | Emil Delchev Dimitrov | GERB | |
| Stara Zagora | Ivan Dechkov Kolev | GERB | |
| Targovishte | Kasim Ismail Dal | DPS | |
| Haskovo | Delyan Aleksandrov Dobrev | GERB | |
| Shumen | Georgi Velkov Kolev | DPS | |
| Yambol | Anastas Vasilev Anastasov | GERB | |
See also
- Bulgaria, the single nationwide constituency for elections to the European Parliament
- Elections in Bulgaria
- Politics of Bulgaria
- The provinces of Bulgaria, on which the constituencies are based
Sources
- ↑ "Election Resources on the Internet: Elections to the Bulgarian National Assembly".
- ↑ Seat allocation by constituency in 2017, from the Central Election Commission of Bulgaria (in Bulgarian)