Electoral fraud

AFP FILE- Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate for the Plataforma Unitaria Democratica party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, poses for a picture during an event with the Voluntad Popular opposition party in Caracas on May 23, 2024

Albanians in the southwestern town of Himare are to vote Sunday for a new mayor after their previous choice, a member of the country's ethnic Greek minority, was stripped of his title, convicted and imprisoned on vote-buying charges in what he and neighboring Greece have claimed was a politically motivated case.

The voter turnout at the June 9 elections as at 4 pm stood at 20.44% for National Assembly and 20.89% for European Parliament, Central Election Commission Spokesperson Rositsa Mateva told journalists on Sunday. Election day started on time and the voting proceeds normally in all polling stations, she said.

Voters are called to the ballot box on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to elect 21 candidates from 31 parties who will represent Greece in the European Parliament until 2029.

Voters who opted for postal voting but either did not send their vote or sent it late can vote in person after 11 a.m. at their registered polling station.

Today is a day for reflection ahead of tomorrow's elections for the National Assembly and the European Parliament in Bulgaria. Campaigning for any party or candidate is strictly prohibited until the end of election day at 8 p.m. on June 9. The election campaign officially ended at midnight.

Ilias Kasidiaris, the imprisoned former deputy leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, was questioned from prison on Monday by the Supreme Court prosecutor, who is carrying out a preliminary investigation regarding allegations that the nationalist Spartiates (Spartans) party was, in fact, a shell party that he created to take part in elections which he was barred from participating due to his

Disciplinary law applies to both students and administrative staff of universities. There are rules that prescribe penalties for individuals who intentionally disrupt the institution's operations with illegal acts. However, these rules are largely ineffective. There is a prevailing culture of impunity, even in cases of admitted corruption.

The few and minimal sentences handed down by the justice system for electoral corruption do little to discourage such violations, according to experts - and undermine the path towards democracy.

Inefficient justice, loopholes in the rules for people at the top of power and dependent media are distinctive features of the situation with the fight against corruption at the top of power in Bulgaria. Such conclusions were reached by the Group of States fighting corruption "GRECO" of the Council of Europe.

The Ministry of Electronic Government is developing a comprehensive system for remote electronic voting, Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov announced on BNT. An opinion on it is expected from the Central Election Commission (CEC).