site.btaInterior Ministry: 58.2% Increase in Reports of Election Violations Compared to June 9 Elections

The Interior Ministry recorded a 58.2% increase in the number of reports of election violations received by the Ministry in the October 27 snap general elections compared to the ones on June 9, caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov told a briefing on Friday. He presented the results of a report sent to the President, the caretaker Prime Minister and the Parliament Chair. The report is not final, the final one will be prepared in 30 days, Ilkov said.

He said that 128 pre-trial proceedings had been initiated. According to him, during the verification of the received reports, 128 cases have been identified for which there is evidence of a crime. Of these, 115 were fast-track police proceedings, Ilkov said, 73 were persons arrested, compared to 63 in the previous election. He recalled that on September 27, with all the resources of the General Directorate of Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Combating Terrorism, a national police operation was launched, mainly aimed against buying and selling votes. A total of 17,000 police officers were involved in guarding 12,897 polling stations. 

A thorough and objective check has been carried out on every single case that has been officially reported. In cases where evidence of crimes has been established, we have initiated pre-trial proceedings, Ilkov said in response to a question related to the position stated by President Rumen Radev.