Preparations for the presidential and vice-presidential election on October 25, 2026, are going smoothly, the interior ministry says. Police report no major vote-buying activity so far.
An operations center at the ministry is coordinating the work of the units handling the vote. Its job covers crimes against people's political rights, public order and fire safety.
Sofia police and regional police directorates have been running targeted operations across Bulgaria since September 28. By October 5, they had carried out 62 such operations. One criminal case has been opened and officers have issued 56 warning notices under Article 65 of the interior ministry law.
Officers have checked 419 sites linked to preparing and running the vote, plus one printing house, and issued 31 written orders to fix problems. The logistics centers that store voting machines and hold printed ballot material are under police guard.
Between September 25 and October 1, the "Bulgarian identity documents" units took in 13,631 applications for ID cards and issued 14,571 identity documents. The ministry says it is helping people get the documents they need so they can vote.
People can report election-related violations and crimes any time through the interior ministry's hotline, on 02/90 112 98, or by email at [email protected]. As of October 5, four reports had come in, two of them about vote-buying. Police checked all four. In three, they found no evidence of a crime.
Information teams at the national and regional police directorates are gathering data on the election process, and any reports that come in go to the relevant unit for checking. The ministry says it is working to a set plan and staying in constant contact with the Central Election Commission, the prosecution, the State Agency for National Security and other bodies.