site.btaUPDATED Election Violation Alerts Up 500-600% vs October 2024, Interior Minister Says

Alerts for violations of the election legislation are about 500-600% higher compared with October 2024, caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev said in Vratsa on Thursday. He arrived in the city for a meeting with the leadership of the Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry, together with the Interior Ministry's acting Secretary General Georgi Kandev.

According to Dechev, 42 reports have been filed in the Vratsa region so far, while 24 days before the 2024 parliamentary elections there had been only one.

Dechev said that the Interior Ministry is currently working on 383 reports of election-related crimes, compared with just 52 during the same period in 2024. The number of pre-trial proceedings opened is also significantly higher, 115 in 2026 versus 27 in 2024, while 51 people have been detained, compared with 18 during the previous elections. Warning protocols issued under the Interior Ministry Act total 679, compared with 207 a year earlier.

“When the Bulgarian police sense determination at the top of the leadership, they know how to work professionally, successfully, energetically, courageously and lawfully,” Dechev said. He urged officers to act under conditions of urgency and to collect evidence in a manner that guarantees its admissibility before the prosecution and the court, so that cases result in convictions.

The minister also underlined the role of civil society. According to him, non-governmental organizations, investigative journalists and active citizens are allies in achieving honest, fair and lawful elections. Dechev recalled that an open telephone line for reporting election violations has been operating from March 19 to April 19 and called on citizens to actively submit information.

He also commented on Wednesday night’s incident when a large group of party members, led by the town's mayor, who is running for Parliament, attempted to enter the regional police station, apparently to release their colleague. “They were uninvited but nevertheless wanted to enter. They showed persistence and the police had to respond,” Dechev explained.

Earlier in the day, police checked a report of vote buying in the Vratsa village of Butan.