site.btaUPDATED 2,066 Election-Related Offences Reported to Authorities by Apr. 17 - Interior Minister

A total of 2,066 alerts for election crimes and violations, have been received by the authorities by 9 in the morning on Friday, caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev said in Pleven.

Similar alerts  ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections totaled only 612, he said.

The authorities have opened 534 fast-track and pre-trial proceedings, up from 108 in 2024. 360 people have been detained in the current election cycle, up from 70 in 2024. Police has issued 5,380 warnings against 1,629 in 2024. Specialized operations related to the elections now total 242 against 228 in 2024. 

Dechev sees the statistics as evidence of people's heightened confidence in the Interior Ministry leadership.

"We all understand that when a citizen doesn't believe their alert will be given serious consideration, they wouldn't bother to report an irregularity to the police. Obviously, the explanation for the increase by 237% - or 3.4-fold - of tipoffs for election offences, compared to October 2024, is the increased confidence of Bulgarian citizens in the Interior Ministry leadership," he said.

He sees this as an accomplishment of the caretaker Cabinet: "because we have managed to convince Bulgarian people that we really want to ensure fair elections and that we are unrelenting to vote buying and voter manipulations, that we don't apply dual standards or cater to the interests of one party or another.

Dechev said he has visited all regional directorates of the Interior Ministry and spoken to their leaders. "I never stop repeating that I want no dual standards, that we are not protecting any party and that there must be zero tolerance for vote buyers, regardless of the party they are buying votes for."

Commenting reports of some EUR 200,000 seized in the Black Sea city of Varna in an operation against vote buying, he said it has been the biggest success of the law-enforcers so far. 

Asked by BTA whether police have planned any measures for April 19 to ensure public order and security in the village of Bukuvlak, near Pleven, which has one of the largest polling stations in Pleven Region, the Minister said that police "has prepared a surprise for people who have refused to heed our call not to break the law and commit election-related offences". He would not say what that "surprise" would be, "for obvious reasons".