Buying votes, a Bulgarian scourge

CENTRAL EUROPEAN LETTER

“Look at this village in central Bulgaria, Bukovlak. In 2014, he voted 80% for the Rights and Freedoms Movement [le parti de la communauté turque et rom] and, three years later, in 2017, it is the Gerb [parti conservateur] which gets almost all the votes. “

“And Dolni Tsabar, on the banks of the Danube. At first, I thought it was a data error, it was so huge. But, no, I checked, and it was true. In 2014, the turnout was just 1%, and three years later it rose to 62%, above the national average. And the Gerb won 55% of the votes. “

Bulgarian Nikola Tulechki, a specialist in data analysis, knows his country’s electoral map like the back of his hand, even if it is only from his computer.

At 37, this researcher, a graduate of Toulouse-II University, examines the “Anomalies” which betray a phenomenon which persists in Bulgaria, despite the scandals: the purchase of votes. Nikola Tulechki participated in a study by the Bulgarian anti-corruption fund, published on Monday March 29 in Sofia, a few days before the legislative elections, organized on Sunday April 4 in this country of 7 million inhabitants.

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This Data for Good NGO activist and a criminologist confirmed that the practice was “Still endemic and very well organized”. “It started with the first democratic elections, in 1990, with gifts and then it became more professional”, he says, citing the multiple studies that have documented the practice at both anthropological and statistical levels.

Statistical anomalies

In a country that remains the poorest in the European Union (EU), “Many voters are ready to sell their votes and even wait for the elections wondering which party will offer them something”, assures Mr. Tulechki.

The price was even determined: “In 2014, it was between 30 and 50 levas [de 15 à 25 euros]. In the 2019 local elections, it reached three-digit numbers in some places. And there will probably be higher sums in these elections ”, says Tihomir Bezlov, analyst at the Center for the Study of Democracy. In some regions, intermediaries offer outright voices for sale in packages, especially in the Roma community. To verify that the contract is fulfilled, voters must take a photo of the ballot in the voting booth, a practice in theory prohibited but uncontrollable.

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