Penn students travel to Philadelphia suburbs to vote in Bulgarian general election

Four Penn students made an eight-mile trek to a grocery store in the suburbs of Philadelphia to vote in the Bulgarian general election this past October.

For some, like Wharton first year Kaloyan Bozhilov, it was their first time voting. For others, like College sophomore Alexandar Krastev and College junior Albena Ruseva, it was their way of exercising their civic duty despite being thousands of miles from home. 

The 240 members composing Bulgaria's National Assembly were elected on Oct. 2, according to Politico. This election was the country's fourth general election in two years, following the Bulgarian parliament's overthrowing of former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's government in late June. 

Krastev said that since there’s no mail-in voting in Bulgaria, voters must go in person, so students said that they casted their ballots at a Bulgarian polling station in the basement of a Euro Market in Broomall, Pa., on Oct. 2.

"When the Bulgarian government organizes elections, they open polling stations in different countries with Bulgarian communities. There is no mail-in voting, so there’s in-person voting everywhere on one day," Krastev said. "They target areas with a higher concentration of Bulgarians." 

The group of Bulgarian students took both trains and buses to the polling station, but decided to Uber back after voting and buying groceries from the market. They said the trip, in total, cost less than $30 for all of them. The student voters added that the voting process was fairly short, with the commute to the location taking longer than it did to cast their ballots. 

"You walk past the cashier into the back office and go downstairs, and it's literally in the basement of the Euro Market. You have to fill out one form, give them your ID card, and then go ahead and vote," Bozhilov said. "The voting form is, at most, two minutes of work. You just hand it in, and you're out."

Krastev, who described himself as “very politically active in Bulgaria,” helped organize a group of Bulgarian students on campus to go vote in the election.

“I'm just trying to get the voter participation up, and I tried to engage as many of the Bulgarians on campus and get them to vote,” he said. 

Bozhilov credited Krastev for the reason why he voted in the election.

"It was so convenient this time that someone actually organized it. Usually, in Bulgaria, your friends won’t say, 'Let’s go vote together,' because everybody lives in different areas and has different voting locations," Bozhilov said. "It's too much effort, but, here, it was perfect. I couldn't say no."

Krastev said while the location in the basement of a grocery store may seem a “little comical,” it’s not atypical. 

"That's not something unusual, whenever there are voting stations outside of embassies or consulates, it's normally wherever anyone can find a spot," Krastev said.

For Ruseva, it was her first time voting at this location. In a previous election, she voted at a voting location in the Bulgarian consulate in New York, and before that, she voted in Bulgaria. She did say that she would go back to the location in Broomall next election because she understands the importance of civic engagement.

“Voting is important to me. A lot of people don’t vote in Bulgaria, and that’s partly why the country is in such a bad state,” Ruseva said. 

Krastev agreed that political participation is important to him. This election offered him the chance to start connecting Bulgarian students to polling places, but he said that his work does not stop here.

"We've obviously had some success and a good turnout, but I'd like to see more of a turnout," Krastev added. "I would like to get more people caring about voting in the Bulgarian elections."