site.btaInterior Minister Reports Four Alerts of Violation of Electoral Legislation

So far, there have been four reports of violations of electoral law and citizens' political rights. Two of them are related to possible vote-buying and the other two - to other violations related to the electoral process, said caretaker Minister of Interior Kalin Stoyanov at the beginning of a national meeting on the upcoming elections on June 9. The meeting is being held in the National Police headquarters.

No pre-trial proceedings have been initiated, the minister said.

“It is our responsibility to guarantee security and preserve public order for the peaceful conduct of the elections to the National Assembly and the European Parliament. It is important to create an optimal organization for the implementation of the main tasks that we are facing in the period of preparation and production of the elections,” Stoyanov added.

Preparations in the Ministry of Interior for the elections started in April, and an operational headquarters has been set up under the acting secretary general of the ministry. “Work is also being done to carry out effective aggregation and exchange of information, which will be done online. The interactive map is something new that we introduced for the first time last year in the local elections. It enables us at any point in time, in real time, to track where, what and how many alerts there are, and make the necessary management decisions to reallocate forces and thus avoid situations where there could possibly be vote buying,” Stoyanov said. He added that the established national inter-agency unit between the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Interior and the State Agency for National Security (SANS) has the main task to carry out the overall coordination and interaction between the institutions. Stoyanov assured that the Interior Ministry will show that it is a depoliticized system.

“We are streamlining the monitoring and control of persons of interest and persons about whom we have information that they were involved in buying and selling votes in previous elections," Interior Ministry deputy secretary-general Dimitar Kangaldzhiev said. “We pay special attention to alerts and operational information received about managers, owners of commercial companies or other employers who agitate or force their employees to vote not of their own conviction,” he further explained in connection with the so-called corporate vote.

According to Elena Karakasheva, deputy acting Prosecutor General, those working in the Supreme Prosecutor's Office have acquired the expertise and have created the necessary organization to counter any actions that would in any way violate the political rights of citizens.

SANS chairman Plamen Tonchev also assured of measures taken in connection with the elections. An operational headquarters has also been set up in the agency, additional funds have been earmarked for the deployment of staff, and duty teams have been formed for June 8 and 9, he said. Operational-search activity has been intensified to acquire up-to-date information on crimes against the political rights of citizens, Tonchev reported, adding that counter-intelligence activity has also been increased to ensure non-interference and attempted influence by foreign services or entities. Regarding the voting machines, Tonchev said that the necessary organization has been set up to check the adequacy of the voting machines.