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Description
Political corruption in the elections is the intersection, where the interdependencies between politicians, the private sector and the underworld meet. Over the last 30 years vote-buying and doubts about rigged election results accompanied all elections in Bulgaria. Opinion polls show that doubts expressed by voters about the fairness of elections result in lower turnout and undermine the democratic process. Therefore, the project aims at involving citizens more actively in the election process and thus improving their participation in decision-making about social policies by presenting to them objective information about vote-buying and the extent to which it rigs election results. At the same time identification of at-risk polling stations based on statistical analysis will enable law enforcement authorities to take actions in a timely manner and counteract more efficiently vote-buying. In addition, the project will provide citizens with information about the possible effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the organization of the election process, the voter turnout and the election results. The main project outcomes will be reports and analyses of the scope and impact of vote-buying in the elections in the period 2013-2019 and the upcoming parliamentary elections. A list of the polling stations at higher risk of vote buying will be submitted to the law enforcement authorities.
Summary of project results
Over the past 30 years, vote-buying and suspicions of vote fraud have accompanied every political election in Bulgaria. The project team planned to prepare report analyses about the size and impact of vote-buying in the political elections held in 2013-2019 and the parliamentary elections on 4 April 2021. In addition to that, the team planned to prepare a list of polling stations with a higher risk of vote-buying and make it available to law enforcement authorities and the general public. The team also planned a short animation video to present the key analysis results more clearly, and scheduled public events to promote the findings of the research. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the organization to broadcast the public presentation of the analysis results only online, which did not affect the expected results. ACF produced an additional analysis of the at-risk polling stations in the July 2021 snap elections, a public event with the main findings, and another animated video. A total of 5 analytical documents were produced based on the methodology developed to measure the country’s at-risk vote.