Police checked more than 1,360 people and detained 13 in operations in the Targovishte and Haskovo regions, the regional police directorates in the two towns said. So far, police in the Haskovo area have received no reports of votes being bought for a particular presidential ticket.
The operation in Targovishte and the surrounding region took place yesterday. Officers from the regional police directorate (ODMVR) worked with police from the district departments in Targovishte, Popovo and Omurtag, and two teams from the Zonal Gendarmerie Directorate in Varna. They looked for crimes against voting rights, petty crime and traffic offences.
Police set up temporary checkpoints and checked 183 vehicles, 242 people and 7 shops and other businesses. Two people were held for up to 24 hours under the Interior Ministry Act, one for assault and one for breaking the law on protection against domestic violence. Police also found a man on a nationwide wanted list. On the roads, they wrote 2 reports and issued 32 on-the-spot fines.
In Haskovo region, the operation with the gendarmerie began today in the early hours. It aims to protect voting rights, cut petty crime and step up traffic checks.
By noon, police had checked 1,126 people and 1,402 vehicles, and 47 of those people were of interest to police. They also checked scrap metal dealers, pawn shops, car breakers' yards, bars and shops.
On 16 October, police carried out a special operation in the Pobeda district of Burgas against vote buying and petty crime. Five people were detained, and the operation was part of wider police action before the vote.
In the Haskovo area, police detained 11 people for drug possession, drink-driving and theft. Under the Road Traffic Act, they wrote 263 reports and issued 32 fines, and handed out 60 warning notices on the spot.