All 12,800 voting machines will be ready to use for the presidential election on 25 October, Central Election Commission (CEC) spokeswoman Stoyanka Balova told BNT. She said the machines still need checks and servicing, with repairs done wherever needed.

Money has already been set aside for spare parts, she said, including printers, peripheral devices, batteries, USB drives and displays.

Balova said the paper used for ballots will be much thinner this time, since it won't need the special status ballot paper had at past elections. "Talks on this will start as early as next week, since the supplier is already fixed - it's the Bulgarian National Bank," she said. The goal, she added, is to avoid blank or short ballots, and to rule out any kind of control slip. The exact specs for the paper will be announced later, the CEC spokeswoman said.

For the first time, members of polling station commissions will get training on the ground this year, Balova said. "We're drawing up the training guidelines for regional election commissions, which start next week. What's new is that we'll train people on site," she said, adding that this won't apply to polling stations abroad. CEC teams will travel out and train commissions in person, she said. A second round of training is planned once polling station commissions are appointed - this time for their chairs and top members. That round will come later, though, since the commissions haven't been appointed yet; under changes to the Electoral Code, that won't happen until after 10 October, Balova explained.

Asked about possible last-minute changes to polling station commission members, the CEC spokeswoman said she hopes parties will act more responsibly.

The campaign for the 25 October presidential election starts today. The CEC has registered 27 presidential tickets and has already drawn their ballot numbers. The campaign ends at midnight on 23 October.