In brief
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev has dismissed allegations that vote‑buying altered Bulgaria’s November election outcome, citing police actions that thwarted attempts to distort ballots. He reported more than 500 incidents, ten arrests and over 10,000 officers guarding polling stations, and warned that forthcoming mayoral contests could pose new challenges.
On Sunday evening, following the nationwide voting process that concluded on November 1, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev declared at the Ministry of the Interior that the election results had not been influenced by vote‑buying.
In a briefing that commenced at 20:45 local time, Demerdzhiev argued that police had successfully pre‑empted and disrupted any attempts to manipulate the vote, even as the incident reports surged throughout the week leading up to the election.
The minister highlighted that police had received more than 500 reports, resulting in the arrest of ten individuals, and that the operation was still ongoing with numbers potentially rising.
"We received more than 500 reports. Ten people have been arrested. The operation is still ongoing, and this number may increase," Demerdzhiev said, urging continued vigilance.
He underlined that the price for a single vote was estimated to range between 40 and 60 euros, a detail that underscores the financial stakes behind the vote‑buying allegations.
Police deployment for the election was extensive, with over 10,000 officers stationed at polling venues nationwide. Additional officers were assigned to high‑risk polling sites identified in advance, according to Acting Chief Secretary Lyubomir Nikolov.
"More than 10,000 officers guarded all polling stations, while many others ensured that the vote was not distorted in the high‑risk polling stations we had identified in advance," Nikolov explained.
Nikolov also addressed a specific incident involving voters who had apparently been marked for a certain preference. He reported that the investigation is already underway regarding those who showed signs of memory loss concerning which candidate they intended to support, as the fighter marks were allegedly inscribed on their palms.
When questioned about the situation in the city of Kardzhali, Demerdzhiev indicated that the initial instructions there had been to avoid voting. He noted that subsequent developments had not aligned with that directive, but the statement ended abruptly.
Part of the minister’s message was aimed at shaping expectations for future elections. He described the forthcoming mayoral contests as potentially more challenging, suggesting that the current operational model might not be as effective. "I think we rose to every challenge," he said. "We must guarantee the safety of citizens with regard to both conventional and domestic crime, and I assure you that in the coming days you will see a police force operating freely and delivering strong results," Nikolov added.
The interior ministry’s briefings have historically served as a platform for addressing public concerns over electoral integrity. The minister emphasized that the police had acted decisively wherever they received credible information about organized violations and insisted that individuals involved in such schemes had been apprehended and all possible preventive steps taken.
These statements followed weeks of scrutiny from opposition parties and civil society groups, many of whom raised concerns over the transparency and fairness of the electoral process. However, the information released in the briefing strictly came from police operations data, with no reference to independent auditors or observer missions.
While Demerdzhiev’s comments are aimed at reassuring the public, some unused data points remain unclear. The brief did not disclose the identities of the arrested individuals, nor did it provide a detailed breakdown of the sources that filed the 500 reports or the exact locations where arrests took place.
Analysts note that the numbers cited, particularly the figure of ten thousand officers, align with the ministry’s historical deployment patterns. Yet, critics point out that the lack of transparency around the arrests and the specifics of the operation leaves open questions about potential selective enforcement.
The ministry further stressed that the operation was still ongoing and that the tally could rise. However, no timeline was offered for the closure of the investigation or a public release of findings beyond the preliminary arrest figures.
In essence, the interior ministry’s defensive stance frames the police role as decisive and preemptive. The event’s composition—where supporting the claim needed police intervention—illustrates a broader national narrative about the need for intensified law enforcement measures in upcoming elections.
One of the key messages from Demerdzhiev is the conveyed confidence that the recorded outcome is untainted – “So we can confidently state that the result now being recorded in the election documents has not been influenced in any way by these unscrupulous practices,” he said.
Despite this assertion, the broader electoral landscape still hosts several unanswered questions. The exact mechanisms through which police deterrent actions were carried out remain largely undisclosed, and it is not clear whether the same approach will be possible for local mayoral elections, where demographic and regional dynamics differ.
Finally, the prime focus for the Ministry of the Interior is to maintain public trust. With the next local elections looming, the ministry’s communication strategy appears to underscore both a readiness to act and a statement of procedural integrity, while the practicalities behind the numbers, such as arrests and officer deployment, will likely be examined more closely by political actors and observers in the weeks ahead.
