Български
EnglishAt a press conference, the “Velichie” party, represented by Yordan Mitsikulev, Petya Stamenova, Larisa Savolova, and Nikolay Pankov, presented revelations of electoral fraud in Pazardzhik and announced an unprecedented mission of international observers in Bulgaria.
We present to you a full transcript of the entire press conference:
Introduction and the Team in Pazardzhik
Yordan Mitsikulev: Good afternoon! Greetings from Pazardzhik, from the center of the Bulgarian News Agency (Българска телеграфна агенция – БТА). It is no coincidence that we have gathered here. Today, our team will tell you for the first time something that originated from Pazardzhik. We are here together with Petya Stamenova, who will be third on the list — today you will understand why she will be third in the 13th Multi-member Constituency Pazardzhik. With us is Larisa Savolova, who has made significant contributions to the events here during the municipal council elections in October. Also here is Niki Pankov — an active fighter who has played a major role in exposing irregularities in the municipal council elections, including the disciplinary dismissal and the crime of the representative of “Vazrazhdane” in the Municipal Election Commission (Общинска избирателна комисия – ОИК), as well as the exposure of an illegally appointed municipal councilor. All of this became known thanks to our club and the people who worked on the ground.
The “Pazardzhik Model” and the Protection of the Secret Ballot
Yordan Mitsikulev: Everything started from here. Our idea was, even before the elections, to declare that we would expose major crimes at the local level. We tested a model that across Bulgaria feeds mafia structures infiltrating local government and parliament. We sought a legal way to address this and achieved a major result — for the first time in Pazardzhik, the fraud with “dark booths” and photographing ballots was stopped. Based on the law, we filed numerous reports, and the partitions in polling stations were changed. Everyone voted with small partitions so that photographing with a phone was impossible. This victory is now being replicated nationwide — the state has launched a public procurement for partitions with specific dimensions across Bulgaria to guarantee the secrecy of the vote.
Methodology for Combating Electoral Fraud
Yordan Mitsikulev: We demonstrated a methodology for catching vote buyers, which we will apply across the entire country. Thousands of people are already organized into working groups. In the coming weeks, you will see well-known individuals, flooded with money, buying votes directly through mayors and the police. We know how drug dealers create cash depots in offices of lending companies. Our knowledge is like a scientific study — we are familiar with the electoral process from its beginning to its concealment. We proved before the Constitutional Court (Конституционен съд) that electoral fraud exists in Bulgaria. For these elections, more than 100 international journalists from America, Australia, and Europe will come and report live from every high-risk location.
Securing a Full OSCE Mission
Yordan Mitsikulev: The big news is that our team has secured 250 international observers.
Larisa Savolova: We managed to convince ODIHR (Служба за демократични институции и права на човека – ОДИХР) of the OSCE (Организация за сигурност и сътрудничество в Европа – ОССЕ) to bring a full mission to Bulgaria. This includes 12 international experts, 14 long-term observers, and 200 short-term observers across the country. After the constitutional case, which is an absolute precedent, we presented folders of documents and convinced them that the most extensive mission possible was needed. We sent them a YouTube link with video evidence of electoral fraud from across the country. I will not describe the shock on their faces when we showed them the videos at our last meeting.
Digital Censorship and Suppression
Petya Stamenova: Observers will also monitor the election campaign on online platforms. There is a European Digital Services Act that should be applied from 2024, but our state has not designated a competent authority to oversee disinformation and content. Minister Nadezhda Nenenski said she would seek assistance from the European Commission (Европейска комисия).
Yordan Mitsikulev: Until two months ago, my Facebook channel alone generated 15 million views per month. Now, content related to the “Velichie” party is suppressed by 100% — our TikTok and YouTube channels are blocked or restricted. But we can also work on the ground — we have proven ourselves to be the best.
The Legal Battle and Work on Reports
Nikolay Pankov: In Pazardzhik, we proved that the law is not “a door in the field” that everyone can bypass. The “Velichie” party submitted 21 reports to the Municipal Election Commission (Общинска избирателна комисия – ОИК), while other parties had zero.
Petya Stamenova: We will not reveal the mechanism — it is “know-how.” The key issue was that the Municipal Election Commission – Pazardzhik issued scandalous decisions prohibiting the presence of observers during the transmission of data to the computing center. The Central Election Commission (Централна избирателна комисия – ЦИК) overturned this decision. The investigation showed that one party (let’s say it openly — “Vazrazhdane”) allowed itself to assign preferences to another person and submit incorrect data. Now we will have observers who will monitor in real time whether what is submitted to Information Services (Информационно обслужване) matches what is recorded in the protocols.
The Scale of Video Surveillance and Volunteers
Nikolay Pankov: Thanks to IT teams and volunteers, we preserved recordings from almost 100% of polling stations. In the constitutional case, we covered 6,000 stations, but we have provided the OSCE with recordings from nearly 8,000 to 10,000 stations. The exploratory mission we triggered proved that laws are being violated in Bulgaria.
Larisa Savolova: Observers will monitor registration, financial transparency, the work of the administration, and the state’s readiness for hybrid attacks. On election day, they will monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, counting, and the calculation of results at all levels. The mission includes representatives from France, Lithuania, the USA, Canada, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and others.
The Scandal of 1,200,000 Missing Ballots
Yordan Mitsikulev: In Pazardzhik, we had information that Peevski’s DPS (Движение за права и свободи – ДПС) was aiming for a result of 40–45%. Thanks to our intervention, this result was reduced to 18%. In the previous elections, we proved before the Constitutional Court the absence of 1,200,000 ballots. By law, the Bulgarian National Bank (Българска народна банка – БНБ) must provide 6,000,000 ballots, but in the original protocols we found only 5,400,000. This means that 1,200,000 were stolen along the way for manipulation. The real voter turnout on October 27, 2024, was only 18% — everything else is inflated with fake ballots. This is an international scandal.
Conclusion and Call
Yordan Mitsikulev: The main credit belongs to the “Velichie” party. Every person deserves to believe that their vote will not disappear. Lawyer Stamenova will be here throughout the entire process.
Nikolay Pankov: Lawyer Stamenova was the main legal mind behind the constitutional complaint, before which the five “silent witnesses” (the president, the Prosecutor General, etc.) remained silent. The “Velichie” party created a precedent that caused a sensation across Europe. The Constitutional Court proved that 47% of the election results were invalid or falsified.
Yordan Mitsikulev: I wish success to my colleagues: Larisa (lead candidate in Smolyan), myself (in Pazardzhik), and Petya (in Kyustendil). Brothers and sisters, enemies — tremble, it will not be easy for you!
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