Cheb detectives are examining a report of possible vote buying in the municipal elections in the Cheb area, which arose from a video recording.
The Police of the Czech Republic are examining a report of possible vote buying in the municipal elections in the Cheb area at the beginning of October 2026. Karlovy Vary police spokesman Jan Bílek confirmed on 19 October 2026 that the police received the report and that detectives from the economic crime department in Cheb are dealing with it.
The trigger is a video call of about four minutes from 10 October 2026, recorded by a man from Mariánské Lázně. According to him, a woman in it offers money for a vote for the movement Naše Česko. Seznam Zprávy, which have the recording, state that in it the woman describes how to photograph a completed ballot as proof, and that the specific amount of 800 crowns mentioned by the author is not spoken in the video. The claim rests on the description by the video's author and on the content of the recording as described by iDNES.cz and Seznam Zprávy. The publications do not state that anyone has been charged.
Mariánské Lázně councillor Samuel Zabolotný, elected for Naše Česko, said that the author approached him on 10 October, that the materials were sent to the economic crime unit on 17 October and that on 19 October the matter was reported to the public prosecutor's office in Cheb. He said that he sees signs of defamation and an effort to discredit him in the case, and that he has never been a member of the movement Naše Česko. According to iDNES.cz, the Pirates in Mariánské Lázně (Czech Pirate Party) also filed a criminal complaint, on 15 October 2026, and by their own account additionally filed a petition to the regional court in Plzeň to invalidate the election.
Chronology
- — Detectives in Cheb are examining a report of possible vote buying in the municipal elections in the Cheb area; it was prompted by a video in which, according to its author, a woman offers 800 crowns for a vote for the Naše Česko movement. Seznam Zprávy iDNES.cz
Sources
- iDNES.cz — 20 October 2026
- Seznam Zprávy — 19 October 2026