ROMA VOTE BUYING: MONEY FOR NOTHING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000533

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TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI LO
SUBJECT: ROMA VOTE BUYING: MONEY FOR NOTHING

REF: BRATISLAVA 373

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1. (SBU) Poloff spent June 17 - election day - in the
eastern Spis region with Roma politician and activist Peter
Pollak, who - juggling three phones, several phone
directories, and a bottle of water - was canvassing Roma
settlements investigating allegations of vote buying. Both
Pollak and National Democratic Institute (NDI) Director
Zuzana Dzurikova (who was observing settlements in western
Slovakia) reported that the problem of vote buying was much
more widespread than in previous years, when "only one
party" (usually HZDS) would come to villages and offer Roma
goulash, wine, a small amount of money, and a ride to
polling places to vote for "their choice" of candidates.
Nevertheless, the Roma themselves were reluctant to speak to
reporters about vote buying. Shedding light on the
practice, they noted, would mean the money would no longer
come. While they may or may not vote for the people the
bribes intend, they will not say "no" to free money.

WHY PARTIES SHOULDN'T TRY IT...
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2. (SBU) A sociology professor in eastern Slovakia's
Presov University told us that he expected vote buying to be
more widespread during local elections, when rather large
percentages of the vote can be bought for a relatively small
amount of money. He said there were several disincentives
to major parties buying Roma votes in parliamentary
elections, primarily the cost/benefit analysis: the Roma
represent a small statistical voting block, while the risk
of scandal would be "too great" for the parties. In
addition, the distribution of regular government social
benefit payments on June 15 - two days before the June 17
elections - may have made some Roma less likely to take the
money.

...AND HOW THEY TRIED, AND FAILED
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3. (SBU) Despite this logic, vote buying was "at its
worst" on election day. While touring with Pollak, Poloff
personally observed vote buying in the town of Letanovce,
where a Rom from a neighboring town had set up shop outside
of the village's polling place to offer SKK 50 (around USD
1.65) to Roma villagers in exchange for votes for candidates
on the party list for Nadej ("Hope"). Other vote peddlers
traveled to the Roma settlement outside the town, where they
handed out wine and cigarettes and increased the price to
SKK 100 (around USD 3.20) to compensate for the long walk.
When the vote buyers saw Poloff and Pollak talking to local
Roma activists about their activities, they promptly
departed.


4. (SBU) Similar situations were observed in the towns of
Markusovce, Spisska Nova Ves, and Krumpach. Region-wide,
the "price" of a Roma vote seemed to average SKK 150 (around
USD 5.00),though in Krumpach, the local candidate on the
SDKU party list was distributing groceries instead of cash.
In Spisska Nova Ves, a microbus was seen transporting Roma
citizens to vote; none of the village's inhabitants knew
which party was sponsoring the transportation, however, and
the President of the polling place for the area told us that
she had seen nothing suspicious and reported no incidents of
fraud.


5. (SBU) It is important to note that the vote buying
seemed to be organized at the local level by local
candidates seeking "preferential votes" which would
guarantee them a place in parliament - if their party gets
in. Only one party exhibited a trend consistent with
broader organization: Nadej. Despite only receiving a
fraction of a percent of nation-wide votes, the party did
"surprisingly" well in the Spis region, where it took as
much as 40 percent of the vote in some localities; however,
it received a mere 0.63 percent nationwide and did not make
it into Parliament.

MONEY FOR NOTHING
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6. (SBU) In the final tally, four of the five parties
observed buying votes in the east - Nadej, Slobodne Forum
(SF),Movement for Democracy (HZD),and the Communist party
(KSS) - were nowhere near the five percent threshold
required to enter parliament. NDI is attempting to put the
word out that the practice doesn't pay, and that parties
hoping to get the Roma vote should do so by focusing on Roma
issues. NDI is particularly concerned that widespread vote
buying during national elections is a harbinger of worse

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things to come in December's local elections, during which
it fears politicians will participate in broader vote buying
schemes. NDI is planning to mobilize election monitors that
day, and also is planning to publish a "list of shame" on
the internet of people known to have participated in vote
buying in previous election cycles.

COMMENT: DID IT HAVE A LARGER IMPACT?
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7. (SBU) Our MPP goal of integrating Roma into Slovak
society includes encouraging responsible political
involvement by both majority and minority politicians and
voters. Vote-buying undermines this, and the Ambassador and
other officers will continue to speak out against the
practice and to support NDI's efforts. In addition to
marginalizing and patronizing the Roma community, the
practice of buying Roma votes may have an effect on the
electorate at large. One man in eastern Slovakia told
Emboffs in advance of the elections that he was not planning
on going to the polls, because his vote would be negated by
"the bought votes of several Roma." Articles about the
practice appeared immediately after the elections in
Slovakia's English-language press. NDI and activists like
Peter Pollak will attempt to focus more media attention on
the issue, although many of the Roma who told us about the
problem also expressed their disinterest in talking to
reporters.

VALLEE