site.btaVote-buying Offers Range from Firewood And Hens to Bank Fee Payment: Experts

Vote-buying Offers Range from Firewood And Hens to Bank Fee Payment:Experts


Sofia, September 16 (BTA) - Firewood deliveries, beer or soft
drink handouts, car transport for voters, distribution of hens,
flour or bread coupons, payment of state and bank fees and
issuance of ID are just part of the offers used by vote-buyers
to tempt people to cast their vote. This is revealed by
information from pre-trial investigations of such cases
concerning various candidates from different regions, Vanya
Georgieva of the Interior Ministry said at a Tuesday discussion
on the practical problems of investigating, unravelling and
punishing crimes against election rights.

The forum was organized by the Transparency without Borders
Association.

In most of the cases, the aim was to make people vote for
specific candidates or parties. They were focused on small
circles of people and, very rarely, on larger ones.

The reasons for the failure of most investigations of such cases
include the fact that it is impossible to collect evidence and
that there are legislative problems, Georgieva said.

In turn, Deputy Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov explained
that about 400 alerts of election violations were received at
the last elections. Twenty pre-trial proceedings were launched
and there is one sentence, but it would be exaggerating to say
that vote-buying has reached dimensions that can change the
legitimate political vote, he thinks.