site.btaPresident Holds Meeting with Representatives of Institutions Responsible for Oct. 27 Elections after Alerts of Vote Buying

President Rumen Radev organized Wednesday a meeting in the Presidency with representatives of the institutions responsible for the preparations of the October 27 snap parliamentary elections. Earlier in the day, he said that the meeting was prompted by multiple alerts of vote buying.

It was attended by Vice President Iliana Iotova, the caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov, who was also elected to coordinate the organizational and technical preparation of the election process, caretaker Minister of e-Government Valentin Mundrov, caretaker Minister of Interior Atanas Ilkov, acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, Chair of the Central Election Commission Kamelia Neykova and Deputy Chair of the State Agency for National Security Georgi Georgiev.

At the beginning of the meeting, the head of State said that not a single tip-off about vote buying or attempts to control vote should be left unanswered. He warned that names and aliases infamous from the recent past have started making the rounds again. The President expressed hope that the fight against vote buying would affect not just vote dealers but also the people who pay for their services.

Caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov reported that a total of 89 alerts related to buying and selling votes have been received at his ministry, in comparison to the previous elections when the number of alerts was 85 for the same period of time. Ilkov added that a total of 42 pre-trial proceedings have been initiated, compared to 40 for the same period before the previous elections. The Interior Ministry has issued a total of 336 warnings, compared to 262 for the same period before the previous elections, while the number of specialized police operations was 128 compared to 121 for the same period before the previous elections.

Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov said that all reports of electoral violations are processed within 48 hours without delays. Regarding the lists of persons published and sent to the prosecution service, Interior Ministry and SANS, Sarafov said he was deeply convinced that the Ministry "is not surprised by many of the names on these lists". "The rule of law requires all of us not to retaliate against someone just because he is named, and by an anonymous source. Many of these names deserve to be the object and target of our work," he added, but made the point that "it is not enough for someone to have a nickname to be targeted."

SANS Deputy Chair Georgi Georgiev said that he activity to acquire up-to-date information on crimes against citizens’ political rights has been intensified. Activity on counter-intelligence security of the elections has also been increased in order to prevent attempts of influence and interference of foreign services and entities, actions of terrorist extremist groups, he added.

Vice President Iliana Iotova said that there is a clear tendency, especially in recent days, to compromise machine voting, or at least to convince people to opt out of machine voting. Caretaker Electonic Governance Minister Valentin Mundrov underlined that the goal of the administration is to restore confidence in machine voting.

Regarding Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov's claims that part of the vote-buying goes through fast loans and the obligations of shops, the Vice President asked him who covers people's debts. "You must have information about who pays for these obligations. Do you have information in favour of which parties these votes were bought?" Iotova asked.

Ilkov replied that he has no right to publish information about which parties are buying votes. "We cannot define a category of persons who are behind each instance. Some have a criminal past, others do not," the Minister also said.

At the end of the meeting, Radev stressed that the political crisis will not be resolved, nor will a government and a parliament with sufficient legitimacy and longevity be formed, until the voter turnout in the country increases.

Nothing drives citizens away from the voting booths more than evidence of a bought and controlled vote, he underlined. The President called on the institutions responsible for holding the elections and ensuring a fair vote to work to limit such events as much as possible. The public should receive timely information on what is being done regarding "this ugly phenomenon," Radev stressed. 

“From the information you have provided, we understand that all necessary measures have been taken and that an organization has been set up," the head of State concluded. 

Cabinet Briefing

A news briefing on the preparations for the elections was held earlier on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers building. 

Caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov reported that the preparations, in particular the part related to material and technical support, are fully on schedule. "Deadlines are strictly adhered to. [...] We have no record of any deadlines or activities missed, including the huge work that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already done to organize the elections abroad," he noted.

Caretaker Electonic Governance Minister Valentin Mundrov said that State has taken and is implementing all the necessary measures to guarantee the protection of citizens' votes in the upcoming snap elections. He explained that this includes the technical security and strict control of the entire process of authentication of the voting machines. Mundrov pointed out that what is different from the previous elections is that the methodology for the inclusion of the parameterizing software in the verification has been updated in order to ensure greater security during the corresponding authentication.

Caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov said that "every officially submitted alert related to vote buying and selling for the October 27 parliamentary elections" will be immediately investigated. He assured that "active efforts are underway to acquire advance information about people and entities involved in buying and selling votes with the intention to distort the citizens’ vote".