A bag of sugar for your vote?

It's election time in Bulgaria. Gangsters are running for office and voters are taking photos of their ballots to receive payoffs.

Michael J. Jordan July 4, 2009 16:39Updated May 30, 2010 12:00

Bulgarian Roma Ognyan Isaev hands out anti-vote-buying pamphlets in the northeastern city of Shumen. (Michael J. Jordan/GlobalPost)

SHUMEN, Bulgaria — Ognyan Isaev knows his fellow Roma — known derogatorily as “gypsies” — are stereotyped for a slew of unsavory habits. In his native Bulgaria, the poorest and most corrupt European Union member, they are often accused of freely selling their votes to the highest bidder.

So in the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary elections, Isaev helped lead a “I Don’t Sell My Vote” campaign. He handed out T-shirts and hit the airwaves with a message he says is not just for the Roma. Distributing fliers Friday in the downtown of this provincial city, Isaev wanted to remind Bulgarians, Roma and ethnic Turks alike of what is not just a Roma problem but a national affliction.

Whether the campaign will make a dent is unclear. Studies indicate that 30 percent of voters would be willing to sell their ballot for as little as 20 Bulgarian leva (about $14), or items like grilled meat, a bag of sugar or cooking oil. The situation has grown so bad that all campaign advertising must now note: “Buying and Selling of Votes is a Crime” — like cigarette packets reminding “Smoking Kills.”

It is this level of corruption, which extends far beyond the election, that is carrying Bulgaria to new depths. In recent years, the country of 8 million has seen untamed graft claim countless millions in EU assistance. Organized crime is responsible for up to 150 murders, which Brusselss says has not led to a single conviction. After repeated warnings, Brussels slapped Sofia last November with an unprecedented penalty for a new member, withdrawing $315 million in aid, a serious blow for state.

"At the end of the day, vote-buying reflects our level of development and that Bulgaria is not yet a mature democracy," said analyst Ruslan Stefanov, of the Center for Study of Democracy, in the capital, Sofia.

And it seems no one is immune from the vote-buying phenomenon — not the ruling coalition, not businesses and certainly not gangsters.

Several notorious gang members are running in the elections, seeking the immunity from prosecution that comes with a government post — a virtual “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

The Socialist-led government, heirs to the ex-Communist party, has used its political power to suddenly raise pensions, unveil infrastructure projects and pave rural roads. One coalition partner, representing the sizable Turkish minority, is banking on tens of thousands of Bulgarian-born Turks returning from Turkey to their home villages as “election tourists,” or staying in Turkey to vote in some 120 polling stations set up there.

Vote-buying requires more than cash: it needs community mechanisms. For example, one leading industrialist who heads a new party stands accused of pressing thousands of his employees to vote for him, or else. The Turkish party pressures its village brethren to vote in lock-step, arguing no one else will protect their interests against a growing anti-Turkish, far-right movement.