In the experience of many countries in the OSCE region vote-buying disproportionately affects socially vulnerable groups. The threat of prosecution may have a chilling effect on the willingness of representatives of these groups to report attempts of vote-buying and co-operate with their investigation. This risk is not entirely eliminated by the reservation in the draft law that a person who voluntarily reports vote-buying shall be relieved from liability. It has also been argued that limited resources of the prosecution should be invested in combating offences that present a greater social threat.¹³

¹³ These considerations have, for example, led to the amendment of the Constitution of the State of Maryland (USA) in 1913, allowing the legislature to decriminalise vote-selling and punish only vote-buying.