Dear Sir or Madam,

I generally enjoy reading your articles, but today I would like to complain about your recent poll "Do you think Bulgaria’s upcoming crucial general elections are at risk of being rigged?".

I find the answering option 3 "Roma votes will be a decisive factor" to be quite inappropriate! It seems to imply that your editorial staff sees election fraud as linked to Roma voters. While I am aware that during past elections there have been incidents of bought votes within some Roma communities, election fraud in Bulgaria is certainly not specific or limited to one ethnic group. By singling out the Roma in this way, you only help to perpetuate the prevalent racist stereotypes in Bulgarian society!

And if you did not want to suggest that Roma voters are especially involved in election fraught, then this answering option makes even less sense. Since some Bulgarian citizens are Roma, of course Roma votes are decisive for the election outcome - just as the votes of ethnic Turks, students, doctors, senior citizens, tall people and any other group you could think of.

That all these groups effect election outcomes (and therefore politics) is exactly the aim of democratic elections! Why would you single out one group of voters in such a negative context?

Regards
Sonja Riemer

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