- Radev asked to reach higher, and not only to the dealers
- Many times more SRS were used this time
- Vice President Yotova asks who and for which parties covers fast loans and voter transfers
“In times more” special intelligence tools against vote trading are thrown by the Ministry of the Interior and the services in the campaign for these elections. And DANS will check large cash payments.
This became clear after the meeting in the presidency, which Rumen Radev called urgently on Wednesday. He summoned to an extraordinary meeting all the institutions involved in the organization of the vote – the Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov, appointed by the office to coordinate it, the e-government Valentin Mundrov, the internal Atanas Ilkov, i.f. the chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov, the head of the CEC Kamelia Neikova. DANS was represented by its deputy head, Georgi Georgiev.
I and our society expect the fight against the bought vote not to be reduced only to the vote dealers, but also to those who use their services and distribute the money. We expect actions to build the trusted code of the machines, but also actions to build trust in the citizens for the electoral process. And this requires action by every single institution.
Radev gave them this task. And in no parliament anymore
“representatives of the bought and controlled vote should not enter”
Minister Ilkov assured that every detail and fact of every received vote-buying signal is checked immediately and immediately handed over to the prosecutor’s office. And when asked by Radev how many requests the Ministry of the Interior and the State Tax Service have made for the use of SRS as part of preventive measures, he indicated that they were “many times more” than before. But the format of the meeting does not allow him to name a number. Operational methods and information verification were also on the rise.
DANS works 24 hours a day, there is an operational headquarters for the vote, assured Georgi Georgiev. “We created an organization to ensure communication between election commissions abroad and the Central Election Commission. We prepare
additional cybersecurity measures,
which are provided to all strategic sites in the country. Within the framework of DANS, priority actions are also carried out to check and analyze the incoming information regarding operations carried out, related to extremely large amounts of cash”, said the deputy chairman.
Minister Ilkov complained about the public circulation of lists of potential vote buyers. It probably refers to information from DB MP Ivaylo Mirchev, which is being commented on in the media and social networks (see box). No facts about crimes were provided, some reports were not even submitted in the appropriate order, he explained.
The circulation of names of suspects through social networks made the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs difficult
To some extent, it played a signaling effect to the individuals we are already working on. I hope our actions will not be tainted by this publicity, said the minister.
“The principles of the rule of law require all of us not to take repressive actions against someone who has been named by an anonymous source,” commented Sarafov. Having a nickname is not a reason to bully someone, he said, but added that indeed “a large part of these names deserve to be the object and purpose of our work.”
The Prosecutor General assured that all reports of election violations are processed within 48 hours
and they do not allow “any hanging around in this category of cases.”
“Who covers people’s debts, because part of the vote buying goes through payday loans and shop debts? Do you have information about which parties are buying votes”, asked Vice President Iliyana Yotova. And he received a response from the Minister of the Interior that similar places and institutions are subject to inspection by the Ministry of the Interior.
“Who is behind these shops and financial facilities – there are owners there, some of whom have criminal records, but each facility is strictly individual and we cannot determine who is behind it,” said Ilkov. He did not indicate for which parties votes are bought under these schemes.
The head of the CEC, Kamelia Neikova, emphasized that the new paper for this vote has a different protection, the commission is yet to make a decision on the marking. This means that there is no way to cheat with the old rolls.
All available old paper for the machines will be destroyed, the BNB and most municipalities have already submitted information that they have done so, Neikova reported.
The executive power has no way to control whether the mayors have fulfilled the prescriptions, emphasized Minister Karadimov.
“When asked by the regional governor to the Metropolitan Municipality, the answer is that he has no right to demand such information. We hope and are in contact with the CEC that even in the Capital Municipality the protocols have been drawn up and the old paper has been destroyed”, he added. At the vote in June, there was some tension on the subject in Sofia – the court forbade the municipality to destroy the rolls from the local elections in 2023, because the case on the disputed election of the mayor Vasil Terziev is still ongoing.
According to Valentin Mundrov, the Ministry of e-Government
succeeded in increasing confidence in machine voting
with the device authentication process being done publicly.
They caught the Seagull from the “Mirchev” list and the man who broke into the office of “New Beginning” in Ruse
4 regional cities dawned with police in vote-buying actions on Wednesday, while the meeting with the president was going on. In Montana, Pazardzhik, Dobrich and Ruse, pawnshops, wood exchanges, car morgues and points for non-ferrous metals were checked. There are detainees with lists in notebooks with sums.
One of the arrested is Chaikata from Pazardzhik. He is on Ivaylo Mirchev’s list of vote buyers, for whom PP-DB insists to be investigated. The seagull was detained for 72 hours. In addition to lists, they also found 110 g of amphetamines in his home.
The man who broke the windows of the “DPS-New Beginning” office in Ruse, about which the party complained on Monday, was also arrested. He is 38 years old, he broke the windows of an office and another party, he did this in previous campaigns as well.
89 signals of vote trading have been received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs so far, for the same period of the previous elections there were 85. 42 pre-trial proceedings were established, 336 warning protocols were issued. 128 specialized police actions were also carried out, the interior minister reported.
After the action in Sofia’s “Hristo Botev” neighborhood a few days ago, the head of the capital’s police announced that 100-150 BGN per vote were being offered, apart from debt forgiveness schemes. (24 cups)