“Buying and selling votes is a crime.” This message is required by law to be included in all campaign materials distributed during election campaigns.
The mirror image of vote buying is vote selling, which is a separate crime under the Criminal Code.
Vote buying – essence, penalties, and protection
I. Nature and elements of the crime of “vote buying.” Charge
Firstly, in order to sell their vote, a person must have the right to vote. Only a person who has the right to vote in the relevant type of election, or who has the right to vote in the relevant type of referendum, can be a subject.
Vote buying occurs when a person requests or receives financial gain in order to vote in a certain way – in favor of a particular candidate, political party, or coalition, or to give a certain answer in a referendum. Here, as with vote buying, the perpetrator can commit the crime in two ways, namely:
- request property tax
- receive property benefits.
The benefit of both selling and buying votes is pecuniary. This means that it should be quantifiable in monetary terms, which includes both any increase in assets and any savings in terms of their reduction.
The sale of votes is only carried out in the form of direct intent, requiring a specific purpose – to exercise the active right to vote in favor of only a specific candidate/party/coalition, or to vote in a referendum in a specific way.
Important! There will be no crime if the person has requested or received a benefit but is not entitled to participate in the relevant elections. In this case, there will be no valid subject of the crime against whom criminal liability can be enforced. There will also be no crime if, after voting in a certain way, the person boasts about it and then receives money for their vote. It is necessary for the perpetrator to have been motivated to vote in a certain way, knowing that they have requested or received a benefit for doing so.
II. Penalties and defense against charges of vote buying
Unlike vote buying, vote selling is not a serious crime under the law. This crime is punishable by imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of between one thousand and five thousand leva. This means that in the case of an accusation of vote selling, the institution of
If the other conditions in the law are also met – the person has not been convicted of a crime of a general nature and has not been exempted from criminal liability so far, and the property damage caused by the crime has been compensated, the court will exempt the perpetrator from criminal liability and impose an administrative fine of between one thousand and five thousand leva. In this case, the person will not be considered convicted and their criminal record will remain clean. The rules for applying the institution of exemption from criminal liability are specific, so it is advisable to seek legal assistance from an experienced criminal lawyer when charged with vote buying.
If the perpetrator does not meet all the conditions for exemption from criminal liability, it is possible, in the presence of exceptional or multiple mitigating circumstances, for the sentence of imprisonment for vote buying to be replaced with probation. It is also possible for the court not to impose the lighter penalty provided for by law alongside the prison sentence, namely a fine.
Of course, it is possible to impose a suspended sentence if the conditions for this are met, as well as an acquittal. Each case must be assessed individually and thoroughly in order to develop a proper line of defense that is tailored to the specific circumstances of each case and that best protects the rights and interests of the accused.
Important! Similar to vote buying, the legislator has provided for an incentive provision in the case of vote selling, according to which the perpetrator will not be punished if he voluntarily reports to the competent authority the person who is buying the votes or the person who is organizing or providing the benefit.
Author: Iveta Vuleva, junior lawyer
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Silvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm provides specialized legal assistance from experienced criminal lawyers on charges of vote buying.
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