Presidential Election: Voters in Southern Bulgaria Admit to Pressure

Voters in some ethnically mixed areas of Southern Bulgaria have told the public broadcaster that some inhabitants are receiving "instructions" before going to the polls to cast ballots for president.

In Dzhebel, a town in the Rhodope mountain, the camera has shown a man saying: "People here are submissive. They are interested. A poor area, they expect something [good] happens to them."

"The organization is good. People [are made to] vote in lines," another says. A third one argues he cannot "say anything" about Sunday's vote.

There are no such instructions for the referendum, voters have said.

The Bulgarian National Television's report comes as no reports of vote buying have been submitted to the central election authorities.

No names of parties people are told to vote can be disclosed, however, as it would count as campaigning in Election Day.

Traditionally, mixed regions with a vast share of Bulgarian Turks have been a loyal electorate for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS). However, it is not clear how the vote will fragment after the spinter party DOST, emerged earlier this year.

The public broadcaster has also recorded a reshuffle of all local election commission members in Kardzhali, a Southern Bulgarian town where ethnic Turks make up the majority of voters. Hundreds of comittee members have left since Saturday evening in the town of more than 43 000, citing "personal reasons."