Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday to vote in the country's early parliamentary elections, the seventh in three and a half years.
Nearly 6.6 million voters are eligible to elect 240 lawmakers among 4,854 candidates from 19 political parties and nine coalitions, as well as one independent candidate, according to the Central Election Commission.
The commission said that 12,879 polling stations opened nationwide at 07:00 local time (0500 GMT) and are due to close at 20:00.
Meanwhile, 719 polling stations are available for Bulgarians living abroad to cast their ballots.
The coalition of the GERB Party and Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF) is leading in Bulgaria's early parliamentary elections, according to exit polls announced by the Bulgarian National TV on Sunday.
The GERB-UDF coalition is expected to have 26.4 percent of the votes, against 14.9 percent of votes for We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition, according to the exit poll of Alpha Research.
The exit poll by Gallup International said that GERB-UDF is leading the elections with 25.1 percent, while PP-DB takes 15.4 percent.
Exit polls will be announced immediately after stations close in Bulgaria, and the final results should be announced no later than Oct. 31.
Under Bulgaria's constitution, the country's president should appoint a prime minister-designate nominated by the largest parliamentary group to form a new government.
If negotiations fail, the constitution allows two further attempts to form a government by the second-largest group, and by one of the others.
The previous election was held in June, but parliament failed to form a regular cabinet, forcing another election.
The National Assembly is Bulgaria's legislative body. It also elects the government by a simple majority and has a four-year term, except under certain circumstances, such as when it cannot elect a government.
Early parliamentary elections underway in Bulgaria
