In Macedonia, 210 people voted in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections. Two hundred and ten - the size of a small village. Yet according to official Bulgarian figures, roughly 200,000 people of Bulgarian origin live in the country. Both numbers cannot be right.

The breakdown by city is even more telling: Strumica 62, Ohrid 56, Prilep 52, Skopje 29, Bitola 11. Out of 3,504 registered Bulgarians in Macedonia, 6% voted. So much for the "massive Bulgarian community."

This isn't the first time elections have exposed the gap between official rhetoric and ground reality. Bulgaria consistently claims a significant minority in Macedonia. The elections show that minority - at least when it needs to put a check mark on a ballot - is minimal.

The low turnout is partly due to EU restrictions on overseas polling stations. But even with more stations, the gap between 200,000 and 210 is too wide to explain with logistics alone. The numbers speak for themselves - and they tell a different story than the political rhetoric.