In brief
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev announced that vote‑buying had not altered the November 1, 2026 election outcome, citing widespread police presence and thousands of reports that led to arrests. More than 10,000 officers guarded polling stations and the operation is still in progress, with the minister warning that upcoming mayoral contests may prove more challenging.
On Sunday, November 1, 2026, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters in Sofia that Bulgaria’s recent parliamentary vote had not been skewed by alleged vote‑buying. He credited the work of law‑enforcement staff who had countered supposed attempts to manipulate the result.
Demerdzhiev said the Ministry of Interior had "received more than 500 reports" of irregularities and that “ten people have been arrested.” He added that the operation was still ongoing and the number of arrests could rise. The minister stressed that the election documents required for the official tally had “not been influenced in any way by these unscrupulous practices.”
Police officers were deployed in large numbers, with over 10,000 members assigned to guard polling stations across the country. High‑risk locations, identified in advance, received extra attention. Demerdzhiev added that the price of a vote ranged between EUR 40 and EUR 60 in the areas where the police were active.
Acting Chief Secretary for the Ministry, Lyubomir Nikolov, echoed the minister’s remarks at the same briefing. He noted that the officers “did not allow the vote to be compromised” and praised their “professional and preventive work.” Nikolov said that the police had “taken action wherever they had information about organized electoral violations.”
Mr. Nikolov was briefed on the balance of the operation, saying that “the people involved in such practices were well known to the police, and everything possible had been done to prevent them from using their familiar schemes again.” He cut short in an interview that he did not expect the “upcoming mayoral elections to be easy or similar to these.” The former official added that the police would continue to operate “freely and delivering strong results,” and that a separate inquiry was underway into voters who had reportedly mistaken the number of their preferred candidate.
During the briefing, the Interior Ministry also clarified its initial instructions in the city of Kardzhali. Minister Demerdzhiev said that the first direction there was to suspend voting, but in subsequent situations a different approach had been adopted. The change was intended to address local irregularities that were observed during the early weeks of the election campaign.
Police Operations and Past Concerns
The Interior Ministry’s security strategy had played a central role in keeping the election process transparent. With a focus on pre‑identified high‑risk polling stations, the police sought to deter bribery and other forms of coercion. The presence of thousands of officers, according to Demerdzhiev, acted as a deterrent and reinforced the integrity of the ballots.
Investigations into every reported instance of wrongdoing remain in progress. The fact that the Ministry has identified more than 500 leads demonstrates the level of intrusion that could have taken place, the minister highlighted. He stressed that all the measures in place were bound to prevent a repeat of the schemes that have plagued Kazakhstan’s local elections before.
Future Electoral Hurdles
Looking ahead, both Demerdzhiev and Nikolov warned that the next round of elections—particularly the scheduled mayoral contests—might present a tougher battlefield. The Interior Ministry expects to maintain a stricter monitoring regime for the upcoming process, especially in regions where voter manipulation had been historically more prevalent.
In sum, BTA reports that Bulgarian authorities have taken substantial steps to uphold the veracity of the November 1 vote. The Rapid response by the police, coupled with large-scale surveillance, ensured that the public’s choice remained untainted by vote‑buying, according to the interior ministry's senior officials.
