Broken legitimacy: the controlled and bought vote in Bulgaria, size and influence

The project aims to provide objective information on controlled and bought votes in the country and the extent to which they influence electoral outcomes.

The first part of the project analyzed the results of parliamentary and local elections held in the period 2013-2020. Extreme values of variables such as voter turnout, winner’s result, invalid votes, etc. were identified in the data by polling station. The applied model allowed the identification of polling stations across the country for which the data suggested a higher risk of a bought vote.

The first part of the project concluded with the production of an analysis report on the size and impact of controlled and bought votes in political elections held between 2013 and 2019. An interactive map of all polling stations across the country where a higher risk of vote-buying was identified was also produced. The map is intended to draw public attention to polling stations at risk and is free for use by journalists and members of the public.

Alongside this, a list of polling stations where the risk of vote-buying is higher has also been made available to law enforcement authorities ahead of the 2021 parliamentary elections to facilitate their actions to prevent electoral violations and cases of controlled and bought votes.

The final analysis under the project will be complemented by the results of the April 4, 2021, parliamentary elections. The analysis will also provide citizens with information on the possible effects of the Kovid-19 pandemic on the organisation of the electoral process, voter turnout and election results.

The project “Broken legitimacy: the controlled and bought vote in Bulgaria, size and influence” is implemented with financial support of € 9990 provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021.