The influx of "newcomers" to the small towns and villages where the mayor of ‎the mayoralty will be elected, is particularly large. The inhabitants of some of ‎such villages have suddenly increased by more than 50% in the first 4 months ‎of the year. The record holders in this regard are municipalities such as ‎Nevestino, Treklyano, Makresh, Novo Selo, etc. ‎

According to the law, 100 inhabitants of a small settlement can elect a mayor. ‎The rules are now the same as in the 2015 local elections, when in the last ‎months before the mandatory permanent residency period expired, we ‎witnessed an unprecedented influx of newly registered residents across the ‎country. "Why didn't this happen in the local elections in 2019?" asks ‎rhetorically Iva Lazarova, head of IPED and answers: "Because then they ‎temporarily changed the law and 350 people were needed to elect a mayor." ‎

Indeed, it is more difficult to bring 200-300 fictitious new residents by ‎document only to a given village than 100. ‎

‎"Very few voters are needed in the race for the post of mayor of a small ‎village:, says Iva Lazarova. “When "newcomers" settle in a village with 120 ‎inhabitants and their number is huge compared to that of people with a ‎permanent address, these voices coming from outside can actually change the ‎results of the vote and decide who will rule the village in the next 4 years. Our ‎hypothesis is that these people are transferred from the larger municipal centers ‎to the smaller settlements. Because when a person moves from a given ‎municipality to a village on its territory, in addition to not losing his or her ‎right to vote for municipal mayor and municipal council, the voter also gains ‎the right to vote for the mayor of the village in which he or she registered."‎

A village mayor has a direct relationship with the municipal mayor who ‎distributes public resources and participates in European projects. "It is much ‎easier for the municipal mayor to have a direct relationship with the village ‎mayor and for them to be from the same party, so that they can use the funds ‎under the European projects together," says Iva Lazarova. Is domestic election ‎tourism legal and does it have anything to do with vote buying?‎

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‎"It is difficult to prove that domestic electoral tourism is a crime against ‎electoral rights. For example, mandatory checks can be appointed in all ‎municipalities where there is a significant increase in new address registrations ‎and the competent authorities can track whether these people have received any ‎incentive to move. We should not forget that the mayors manage the territory ‎of the respective village, administer the services there, manage the municipal ‎property, etc. It is behind these economic factors that the reasons why electoral ‎tourism in their villages can be hidden,"says Iva Lazarova in conclusion.‎

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Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova