- Managers on a list invited to the police, where special declarations awaited them
- The first such drastic action against the corporate vote was on the signal of the PP-DB and the Facebook group, which released the “Mirchev” list of vote traders with nicknames
One of the largest Bulgarian companies with over 1,000 employees have received invitations to meetings in Directorates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the country.
Their owners and CEOs have signed declarations that they will not encourage a corporate vote in Sunday’s election.
The dialogue in the police
was calm, respectful, confirm three of the companies that responded to the meeting invitation on Friday.
Their representatives say that for the first time they are the object of such interest from the Ministry of the Interior. They also signed special declarations for the first time, which, however, remained in the police departments.
When the managers were asked on what principle their companies were selected, the answer was laconic – that the Ministry of the Interior works according to a list.
After an inquiry by “24 Hours”, the Ministry of the Interior explained that the managers of large companies, for which many people in the mixed regions also work, were invited because
signal from the list on the BG elves facebook page
(Bulgarian elves). A list of 200 names and nicknames of potential vote buyers was published on this page at the end of September. Then Ivaylo Mirchev from “Yes, Bulgaria” filed a report with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then repeatedly TV presenters asked questions to the internal department whether it would check the people in it.
At the meeting with President Rumen Radev, which he convened with all the institutions involved in the elections, Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov complained that part of the list of “Bulgarian elves” had been checked discreetly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the publication of the names actually prevented it. And in subsequent statements, the official minister added that
the report submitted by Mirchev lacked specifics
and this made it difficult for the Ministry of Internal Affairs in their attempts to find out who was behind the nicknames.
However, several massive police actions against potential vote traders followed, which confirmed that the most common scheme was the forgiveness of voters’ debts. The arrest of a vote trader from the “Mirchev” list was announced.
Now the Ministry of Internal Affairs was obliged to carry out an investigation on the new signal related to concerns about a corporate vote. All actions and conversations with the top management of large companies are based on the signal from PP-DB, the department explained.
The warning protocol itself, which is signed, only obliges a person not to commit crimes. It does not stay on his record and is not the same as a criminal record that is obtained after being caught in a crime.
In cases of established vote trading, the commission of the offense after a warning does not lead to a charge of a more serious crime, but the court takes it into account when determining the sentences and increases them.
For the elections on October 27, the Ministry of the Interior has issued over 900 warning protocols
The idea of this document is to let the person know that they are aware of their intentions and to have a deterrent effect.