Bulgaria exit polls put Iotova and Gyurov into 1 November runoff

Exit polls from Bulgaria’s presidential election on Sunday, 25 October 2026, put acting President Iliana Iotova and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov well ahead of the 27-candidate field, pointing to a second round on 1 November.

An exit poll by the Myara agency, a media partner of Bulgarian National Radio, put Iotova and running mate Kiril Valchev on 35.6% as of 8 p.m., with Gyurov and Georgi Kandev on 32.5%. A second exit poll, by Alpha Research, put the two tickets on 35.3% and 32.4% respectively as of 7 p.m. Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin trailed in third on 13.5% and 12.6% in the two polls.

Turnout stood at about 22.2%, far below the 50% required for a first-round victory, which also requires more than half of valid votes. Bulgarian National Radio said the results available at this stage indicate a runoff on 1 November.

Iotova, formerly vice president, became acting president in January after Rumen Radev resigned to enter the parliamentary race. Gyurov, a former deputy central bank governor backed by pro-Western reformist parties, has long supported Ukraine and signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv. The vote took place in the shadow of deadly drone strikes on merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.

Sources:

• Bulgarian National Radio: https://bnrnews.bg/en/post/547728/exit-poll-iliana-iotova-and-andrey-gyurov-remain-in-the-presidential-race
• Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/25/bulgarians-vote-for-president-in-shadow-of-russias-war-in-ukraine
• The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/bulgaria-presidential-election-black-sea-drone-strikes-on-october-25-2026/article71622481.ece