Election fraud

The Foreign Ministry's decision on establishing the polling stations abroad was based on the analysis of the way the 2009 presidential election unfolded, as well as on the proposals made by the Romanian diplomatic missions, Secretary of State with the Foreign Affairs Ministry Radu Podgorean explained in a release this Saturday to AGERPRES.

Workers at the "Multiprint" printing house have testified in court in favor of the sole defendant in the case concerning the illegal ballot papers discovered on the eve of the early elections on May 12, 2013.

The case is tried in the Sofia City Court under fast-track proceedings, as requested by the defendant, Rosen Zhelyazkov, former Chief Secretary of the Council of Ministers.

Caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov on Monday vowed “no mercy’’ for vote buying at the upcoming elections and ruled out a repeat of Kostinbrod fake ballots scandal.

A voter who photographed his own marked ballot inside the voting cubicle has been detained in Darıca in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.

Ballot box officials in Darıca informed police after they realized that a voter had taken a photo inside the box.       

"Balkans home to nearly half of media freedom violations"

VIENNA -- Since its launch at the end of May, over 170 cases have been submitted on the Ushahidi mediafreedom crowdsourcing platform.

The platform is promoted by Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and Index on Censorship.

Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych says he will respect the results of Sunday's presidential elections.

"No matter in what region and what percentage of the population came to the polls, which choice you have made, I respect this choice that has been made in the most difficult time for our Motherland", Yanukovych said in a statement, quoted by ITAR-TASS.

Starting May 20, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry will open a hotline (982-22-32) for any issues linked to election fraud.

The hotline will be open until the end of the European elections day on May 25, Chief Interior Secretary Svetlozar Lazarov revealed. Any violations that are reported will be submitted to the Prosecution.