EditBulgarian elections: The caretaker cabinet wages battle in an oligarch’s stronghold
More than three decades after Bulgaria's first democratic elections in 1990, vote-buying and controlled voting remain a substantial problem for electoral integrity
The integrity of the 19 April elections represents the key challenge for Bulgaria’s caretaker government, following the Constitutional Court’s partial annulment of the previous vote and a serious erosion of public trust in the electoral process, writes Emilia Milcheva.
Mass protests in December against corruption and backroom dealings forced the resignation of the cabinet and demanded fair elections. Upon taking office, Andrey Gyurov’s caretaker government immediately announced measures to combat vote-buying and controlled voting, replacing 23 out of 28 regional directors of the Ministry of Interior.
First clashes – in a district under oligarch control
The Ministry of Interior reported a sharp increase in investigations into vote-buying. In the first week of March alone, 41 pre-trial proceedings were initiated and 25 people detained – compared to just 3 proceedings and three arrests during the previous October 2024 elections.
Reported signals have also risen dramatically – 89 versus 10 a year and a half earlier. Working alongside the prosecution and security services, the Ministry of Interior is investigating election violations, with its powers including checks on citizens, premises, and vehicles.
The first signs of tension emerged in the southeastern Kardzhali district — a traditional stronghold of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and of Delyan Peevski, sanctioned under the U.S. Magnitsky Act. In this area, where DPS typically wins all five parliamentary seats, and mayors of the seven municipalities and most villages are tied to the party, concrete reports of political pressure have already surfaced.
The mayor of Enyovche village, Nedko Uzunov — who has governed with DPS support for 33 years – complained to the Ministry of Interior of pressure from the Ardino municipality after announcing support for the “Progressive Bulgaria” coalition of former president Rumen Radev. According to him, this was followed by inspections of his private properties, though Ardino mayor Izet Shaban denied any link to the political choice.
Attacks on the caretaker Ministry of Interior have also come from two former interior ministers, further sharpening the pre-election campaign. Daniel Mitov of GERB-SDS questioned the institution’s ability to guarantee a fair vote, while DPS-New Beginning MP Kalin Stoyanov – also a former interior minister – claimed the Ministry of Interior was being used for political repression against his party. Stoyanov accused his predecessor, who is leading the list in the Kardzhali district, of exerting pressure.
Both critics represent parties that benefited most from electoral irregularities in 2024, as shown by the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
The Ministry of Interior has clarified that in investigating election violations, it makes no distinction between local authorities and ordinary citizens. Warning protocols issued by the ministry before elections are served to individuals for whom there is evidence of offering money or other benefits in exchange for votes. This document formally warns them of criminal liability.
Only about a hundred effective sentences in 20 years
More than three decades after Bulgaria’s first democratic elections in 1990, vote-buying and controlled voting remain a substantial problem for electoral integrity.
Vote-buying is observed mainly in parliamentary and local elections. It is significantly less pronounced in presidential/vice-presidential and European Parliament elections, where direct material benefits for political forces are absent – no public resources are distributed, weakening the incentive for “buy-sell” deals.
This practice became entrenched during the country’s long transition from the former Eastern Bloc to a market economy and democracy. Data and observations show that crimes against citizens’ political rights have become a systemic issue in Bulgarian democracy.
Yet investigations by the Ministry of Interior and prosecution rarely reach the instigators, even though vote-buying and selling were criminalized in 2007 and penalties increased in 2009. No current or former MP has ever been convicted for vote-buying.
This “result” casts doubt on the effectiveness of criminal prosecution and raises questions about dependencies within the Bulgarian prosecution service, whose reform attempts have systematically failed.
Over the last 20 years, there have been roughly 100–120 effective convictions for vote-buying, according to constitutional law expert Stoil Mollov. In the 2021–2024 period alone, 17 people served effective prison sentences, with a total of 191 convicted or sanctioned individuals. Cases initiated in the same period numbered 480.The year 2023 is illustrative: with both parliamentary and local elections, there were 353 investigations but only 75 sentences – none effective.
Bulgaria’s judicial system, widely regarded as slow and ineffective, makes no exception in vote-buying cases. Recently, the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld a conviction against the mayor of Bata village, Georgi Georgiev, issued 15 years earlier.
Risky sections – 14–15% of all
There are no official data on the volume of traded votes, which varies by election. Prices also fluctuate – higher in local elections, where in small municipalities even 10–50 votes can decide the outcome.
In the last parliamentary elections of 2024, the price per vote ranged from 100 to 300 leva (50–150 euros), with no fixed value. Votes are typically sold by people from vulnerable and marginalized communities, including Roma and socially isolated groups.
A study supported by the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation after the 2022 elections identified 1,738 risky polling sections – places where election violations and vote-buying are regularly detected. Last week, the Union for Fair Elections also noted that over 1,700 sections fall into this category. This represents about 13–14% of the country’s more than 12,800 polling sections and underscores the problem’s persistent nature.
Buyers use various methods to verify “correct” voting. During the transition period, there were cases where Roma who had sold their vote received one shoe before voting and the second after proof (often proof is a smartphone photo of the bulletin). Over the years, pressure through pawnshops and usurers in small settlements has been documented – voting for a specific party in exchange for debt forgiveness.
Today, payment often comes in the form of food products. Law enforcement reports seizing lists of names from small shops. “The firewood-for-votes scheme is no longer relevant as we exit the heating season. Currently, other schemes are observed, offering food aid,” said Ministry of Interior Chief Secretary Georgi Kandev.
Another mechanism for influencing results is invalid ballots, whose share in some elections reaches high levels. The highest rates occurred in local elections – in 2015, about 15–16% of ballots were declared invalid for failing legal requirements.
Ballots can easily be invalidated even for minor violations, such as extra marks or improper notation (in voting sections, during the count, members have routinely added extra marks to bulletins of parties they don’t support). However, the introduction of machine voting sharply reduced the share of invalid ballots.
Major violations occur inside polling sections
How do vote-trading intermediaries obtain proof of purchased votes? One well-known method in Bulgaria is the “Indian thread” scheme: the first voter exits the section with a blank ballot; the next receives a pre-filled one and returns a new blank, used by the following participant. But for the April 19 elections, there will be no dark booths – only screens – as the 2022 Electoral Code provisions are finally implemented.
Proof often includes smartphone photos of the filled ballot, allowing the intermediary to confirm payment was honored.
Controlled voting – through employers or local authorities – is far harder to prove. This also applies to voting via mobile ballot boxes used by people with disabilities.
The last elections in October 2024 showed serious violations during ballot counting in section election commissions. Video surveillance revealed cases where commission members filled ballots for a specific party, added votes, or manipulated protocols.
Due to fears of irregularities on 19 April, Bulgaria will host an observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). On election day, it will be joined by a Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) mission.
International observation matters, but the real test is for Andrey Gyurov’s caretaker government — can it tackle these vicious practices and organize the most honest vote possible? Its success will determine the next governing majority.
Caption: The caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov diring a cabinet session dedicated to the organisation of free and fair elections on 26 February 2026 [Council of Ministers]
Updated: March 23, 2026 - 12:27
