Bulgaria runoff eve: police log 393 election complaints, most over vote buying
On the day of reflection, the Interior Ministry reported 292 vote-buying complaints, eight criminal cases and 340 police operations. A sweep in the Stara Zagora region led to 13 detentions.
Symbolic image · Photo: Powerfox / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgaria's Interior Ministry has received 393 reports of electoral law violations since the start of the presidential campaign, it said on Saturday, a day before the runoff. Of those, 292 concern alleged vote buying, 27 unauthorized campaigning, two so-called corporate voting, in which employers pressure staff, and 72 other violations.
Authorities have opened eight criminal proceedings, six of them for crimes against citizens' political rights. Police have also issued 1,691 written warnings and carried out 340 special operations nationwide. Security for polling stations on Sunday is being organized in parallel, the ministry said, without giving figures.
In a large-scale operation in the Stara Zagora region, officers checked 876 people and 375 vehicles since Friday, as well as 16 pawnshops and quick-loan companies. Thirteen people were detained. Police did not say how many of the detentions were directly linked to the election; officers also found drugs, ammunition and about 100 coins of possible historical value.