Bulgaria's election commission confirms Iotova and Gyurov into 1 November runoff
Bulgaria's Central Election Commission has published near-final first-round results putting acting President Iliana Iotova on 34.76% and Andrey Gyurov on 31.94%, confirming a presidential runoff on 1 November after turnout of about 22%.
Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has published near-final results from Sunday’s presidential election, confirming that acting President Iliana Iotova and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov will meet in a runoff on 1 November.
With 99.94 percent of precinct protocols processed, Iotova and running mate Kiril Valchev received 528,753 votes, or 34.76 percent, Bulgarian National Radio reported from the CEC figures. Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received 485,927 votes, or 31.94 percent. Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin were third on 190,812 votes, or 12.54 percent, and 67,323 voters, or 4.42 percent, chose the “I do not support any candidate” option. Turnout was approximately 22 percent.
Neither leading ticket reached the majority required for a first-round win, and Reuters reported that the election drew record-low participation among 27 candidates. A victory for Iotova would make her Bulgaria’s first elected female president, Reuters said.
Iotova, formerly vice president, became acting president in January after Rumen Radev resigned to enter the parliamentary race. Gyurov, a former caretaker prime minister backed by pro-Western reformist parties, has campaigned on a European, forward-looking Bulgaria. The vote took place in the shadow of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, which both leading candidates condemned while differing over the broader war in Ukraine.
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