In brief
On Sunday, 1 November, Bulgarian voters went to the polls for Bulgaria’s presidential runoff, pitting incumbent President Iliana Iotova—backed by the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party—with vice‑presidential candidate Kiril Valchev against challenger Andrey Gurov, who ran with Georgi Kandev and received support from We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria. The election follows a close first round on 25 October, where Iotova’s ticket captured 34.76 percent of the vote compared with Gurov’s 31.95 percent. Exit polls are scheduled to be released at 8:00 p.m., with official results expected by Wednesday.
Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday, 1 November, for Bulgaria’s second‑round presidential ballot, a decisive contest between incumbent President Iliana Iotova, running with vice‑presidential candidate Kiril Valchev, and challenger Andrey Gurov, who vied for the presidency with Georgi Kandev as his running mate.
The election, held across Sofia and provincial centers, followed a tense first round on 25 October in which Iotova’s ticket secured 34.76 percent of the vote, while Gurov’s team captured 31.95 percent, the second‑highest share among 27 candidate pairs.
Approximately 6.6 million citizens qualified to vote in this two‑step process, which culminates in a five‑year presidential term when the winner is elected directly by the electorate. Iotova, 62, previously served as vice president in 2016 and 2021, and succeeded former President Rumen Radev when he resigned in January. She is backed by the Progressive Bulgaria party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Valchev, the director general of the Bulgarian News Agency, joins her ticket.
Gurov, an adjunct finance professor at the American University in Bulgaria, has limited political tenure compared with Iotova. He briefly served as caretaker prime minister for 78 days earlier this year and chaired the parliamentary group of We Continue the Change from December 2021 to February 2023. His running mate, Kandev, a former police officer, acted as secretary general at the Ministry of Interior for several months in 2026.
exit polls are set to begin at 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) with official results due no later than Wednesday. These details remain unconfirmed until the poll closing time and the announcement of the official tally.
