Bulgaria uses weather, music charts as code to get around exit poll rules
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Some media have been using sunny weather as a code for election results (Photo: EUobserver)
The Bulgarian media have been using the weather, as well as music and literary charts, as a fairly obvious code to get around a law that forbids the publishing of exit polls before the end of the elections.
On a day where the temperatures have in reality reached above 35 degrees, the temperature at the city hall – home to the mayor and leader of the centre-right Gerb party, Boyko Borisov - has oddly dropped to 25.5 degrees, the Bgnes news agency reports.
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Meanwhile, near the governing Socialists' headquarters the temperature is an even chillier 20 degrees, it says.
The number of degrees celsius are a none-too-subtle code for the percentage the parties are supposed to have obtained.
Wind speed, code for voter turnout, was 26 metres per second at aroud 5:30 p.m., it also reported.
For its part, the Focus news agency is using books for its winking election result update. Focus has reported that 38 percent of people had gone to buy books by 6.00 p.m. on Sunday.
The The General in his labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – referring to Mr Borisov, who was the chief secretary of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior between 2001 and 2005 and bore the rank of general – was sold at 26 leva, i.e., Mr Borisov's party received some 26 percent of the votes.
Because we are socialists, a recent book by centre-left leader Segei Stanishev, sold at 19 leva, while Mein kampf by Adolf Hitler – referring to the nationalist Ataka party – sold at 12.3 leva.
The Darik radio station is using music.
It says that French singer Joe Dassin's song The General said is the absolute favourite in the radio's music chart at 25 percent. The roses are red of Boby Vinton got 19.3 percent of the votes, while Blue tango by Amanda Lear – referring to the rightist Blue Coalition party – got 8.3 percent.
The Mediapool news site is using a non-alcohol cocktails chart to inform its readers.
The General cocktail was the most sold cocktail in Bulgaria's bars by 17h at 25.3 percent, it said. Moscow dawn came second at 19.6 percent, followed by On this side of the Bosphorus - referring to the Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom – at 13.3 percent.
The using of code names for announcing early vote results have been widely used in Bulgaria for years without any legal consequences.
The polling institutes only publish exit polls at the end of the voting day.
