Yotova and Gyurov advance to the final of Bulgaria's presidential race

Finalists identified

It has been officially confirmed in Bulgaria that a repeat vote will be required to elect the head of state. Two candidate pairs advanced to the second round, which will take place on Sunday, 1 November: Iliana Yotova with Kiril Volchev, and Andrey Gyurov with Georgi Kandev.

First-round results

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), as of 9:00 am on 26 October, 99.94% of the protocols from the precinct election commissions had been processed and transmitted to the district authorities. The official statistics are published on the CEC website.

The lead is retained by the team of Iliana Yotova and Kiril Volchev, which secured 34.763% of the votes. Second place was taken by the pair of Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev with a score of 31.947%.

The distribution of votes among the six leading candidate duos is as follows:

• Iliana Yotova and Kiril Volchev — 34.763%;
• Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev — 31.947%;
• Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin — 12.545%;
• Radostin Vasilev and Krasimir Manov — 4.608%;
• Ivelin Mihaylov and Yuliya Mateeva — 3.788%;
• Ivan Hristanov and Stoyanka Cherkezova — 2.393%.

In addition, 4.426% of voters chose the option “I do not support anyone”.

Constitutional norms and campaign specifics

In accordance with the Constitution, a candidate can be elected in the first round only if they receive more than half of the valid votes, provided that a majority of voters turn out. Since none of the candidates reached this threshold, a repeat vote between the two leaders is scheduled within seven days.

This election campaign was distinguished by a record number of participants: 27 candidates ran for the post of president, which is the highest figure since the introduction of direct elections for the head of state in Bulgaria.

The new head of state will take office in January 2027.