Bulgaria Elections 2009: Buying Your Way to Power for EUR 50

Local businesses and organised crime figures can easily buy their way to power in Bulgaria since about 40% of potential voters say they are likely to sell their vote, a survey shows.

Between 30% - 40% of the Bulgarian voters say they would take money before casting a ballot or at least do not rule out this possibility, according to a survey of the Open Society Institute in Sofia, which was conducted in March and April this year.

Vote-buying has existed to some degree in many countries of the former eastern bloc, but in Bulgaria it's become an increasingly organised activity. In the 2007 national and MEP elections the problem was so widespread that Brussels became alarmed. The Open Society Institute survey shows that the odds are that the upcoming general and MEP elections this summer will again be seriously marred by allegations of vote buying, not only in Roma neighborhoods around the country.

Asked whether they would accept to take money for voting for a particular political power, the definitely not group among the respondents in the survey accounts for no more than 63%. 5% of the respondents say they would not hesitate to sell their vote and vote for the political power that gave them money, while another 16% say they would take the money but would support the party they believe in or would not go to the booths at all.

Those who expressed hesitancy about selling their vote account for another 16% of the respondents. A total of 43% of the respondents said they do not rule out selling their vote in the upcoming general and MEP elections.

The survey found out that a vote is on average worth EUR 50 in Bulgaria. The price per vote is two times lower in the Northwestern regions of the country and nearly two times higher in the Southern and Central regions.

The highest concentration of voters, who are willing to sell their vote, were found among the supporters of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the survey said.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!