Opposition leader Ivanov votes in Bulgaria election

Bulgarian opposition leader Hristo Ivanov said on Sunday that the country needs "to move on from this situation of corruption", while casting his ballot in a snap poll.

Bulgarians are voting on Sunday after a previous election in April produced a fragmented parliament that failed to form a viable coalition government.

The country has "to catch up, to develop, to modernise," said Ivanov, the leader of the Democratic Bulgaria party, after voting at a polling station in Sofia.

He added that Bulgaria needs a government "that really has the guts" to carry out reforms needed to "to dismantle... corruption".

NATO and European Union member Bulgaria has been repeatedly criticized for not tackling corruption and for deficiencies in the rule of law and media freedom.

The 12,000 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) for the 6.7 million eligible voters to elect 240 lawmakers.

Latest opinion polls suggest that the rerun could produce similar results but also a further drop in support for former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's GERB party, after the current caretaker government made public allegations of widespread corruption during his rule.

The anti-corruption campaign of Borissov's opponents was additionally boosted by the sanctions the U.S. Treasury imposed last month against several Bulgarian public officials and business leaders for corruption.

Polls suggest a tight race between Borissov's party, which came first in April with over 26% of the vote, and its main rival, the anti-elite There is Such a People, led by popular TV entertainer Slavi Trifonov.