Tourism is held in high esteem in Bulgaria – in its classical but also in its political version. Whenever local elections loom large on the horizon, hordes of Bulgarians suddenly feel the urge to go and live in abandoned houses, 40-50 in one house, but… only on paper. We call this “election tourism” and in the past ten years or so it has acquired considerable proportions.

Legislators took steps to curb this phenomenon setting down a six month domicile period. Amendments to the Civil Registration Act were made in recent years and requirements were set down aimed at preventing potential abuse – ownership documents or papers attesting to contractual rent relations, eligibility criteria regarding housing capacity and number of residents etc., as proof that voters really do reside where they say they do. Legal requirements were put in place for institutions to exercise control.

Yet as local elections draw near, numerous drastic breaches of the law were ascertained but it was only after the media made them public that the prosecutor’s office intervened. As it turns out, it is making amends for the oversights of other institutions. Under the Civil Registration Act mayors of municipalities, regional governors as well as officials from the Civil Registration and Administrative Services department, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works as well as the Ministry of the Interior all have the authority to exercise control so that these requirements are met. Now, pressure is mounting because the vote will also be for mayors of small towns and villages with a population of a hundred or so. In cases such as these, several votes are enough to tip the scales. The Transparency without Borders Association analyses election tourism as a phenomenon in the first edition of its news bulletin on the local elections due in the autumn:

“We turned to the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and its Civil Registration and Administrative Services for official data so as to make a comparison with previous years,” says Dr. Vanya Nousheva. “Based on the data from the January 2014 - May 2015 period we ascertained that on a national scale the number of registrations has gone up 1.3 times. What is worrying us more is that in some municipalities the number of changes of address really is drastic. Take for example Gramada municipality, Vidin district – 22-23 times, Treklyano, Kyustendil district – 20 times, Borovan, Vratsa district – almost 16 times.”

In 98 out of a total of 265 municipalities there have been a great many resident registrations – an increase of 2 to 23 times, compared to figures from last year. In the words of Dr. Vanya Nousheva the pressure for address changes on a large scale is concentrated in two kinds of regions – regions with an advanced economy connected with tourism and commerce such as Varna and Bourgas region and those that are in logistical proximity to Sofia.

The other kind of regions where address changes have gone up drastically are the regions which are economically backward with the only economic activity being access to natural resources or common land, like Vidin, Montana and Kyustendil.

“What is this due to, do you think?” Dr. Nousheva goes on to say. “Once again we are seeing this phenomenon in regions close to the sea with a booming economy. The reason – political parties have a strong economic interest in exerting their influence on the administrative bodies in these lucrative municipalities. As to the regions where the capacity for economic development is low, the explanation is that the population there is subject to strong economic pressure, many live in dire poverty and are pressured by political parties into taking part in such schemes. The only resources in these regions are the natural resources – forests, land which can be exploited including resources that are municipally owned.”

To counter election tourism, experts recommend that institutions strictly observe the law and that supervisory authorities constantly exchange information. Experts say that amendments must be made to the Civil Registration Act that would allow for the ex officio cancellation of address registrations that are in contravention of the law and for penalizing the officials responsible.

English version: Milena Daynova