Lithuanian Journalists Sting Azerbaijan's Vote-Buying Network

MAY 15 2013 · 12:00

15min.lt investigation · "N/A" · Azerbaijan · 2013 Language: N/A · Venue: Malmö Arena · Host: Malmö, Sweden · Type: scandal · Broadcast: streaming era Lithuanian news outlet 15min.lt runs a covert sting during Eurovision week 2013. Reporters contact Azerbaijani Eurovision organizers offering to sell bulk SIM cards used for televoting. The Azerbaijani contact, identifying himself as 'Sergei', offers 'millions for victory', proposing a mass SIM-card purchase scheme to boost Azerbaijan's televote. The story breaks during the week. Azerbaijan subsequently gives Russia 0 points in the final, the normally reliable ally relationship broken. Putin reportedly calls Aliyev the following day. Context Azerbaijan had been accused of vote-buying in prior years but never with this level of documentation. The EBU investigation confirmed irregularities but stopped short of disqualification. The Azerbaijan-Russia 0-point result was read as fallout from the exposed scheme rather than independent strategic voting. Legacy Televoting rules were tightened afterward, introduction of regional SIM limits, anomaly detection, and eventually the split jury-televote presentation in 2016. Azerbaijani juries would be caught in further voting collusion scandals in 2022. The 2013 sting remains the most thoroughly documented Eurovision vote-manipulation case.