Bulgaria returns to polls in presidential runoff

SOFIA

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Bulgarians return to the polls on Nov. 1 to choose between acting President Iliana Yotova and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov after a first round marked by record-low turnout produced no outright winner.

Yotova and her running mate, Kiril Valchev, won 34.8 percent of the vote on Oct. 25, ahead of Gyurov and Georgi Kandev on 32 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. Only about 22.5 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, the lowest turnout in Bulgaria’s post-communist history.

Polling stations are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). The campaign has featured competing views on Bulgaria’s foreign policy and its relations with Russia, Ukraine and Western allies.

Yotova is seeking a full presidential mandate with the backing of Progressive Bulgaria, the party led by former President Rumen Radev. She served as his vice president and assumed the presidency after he resigned in January.

A victory would make her Bulgaria’s first elected female president. The office’s responsibilities include representing the country, serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and vetoing legislation.

Gyurov, an economist and former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, is backed by opposition parties. He led a caretaker government before April’s parliamentary election.

A total of 27 candidates contested the first round. Electoral rules require a candidate to win more than half the valid votes, with participation exceeding 50 percent of registered voters, to secure a first-round victory. Otherwise, the two leading candidates advance to a runoff.

The presidential contest follows years of political instability. Bulgaria has held eight parliamentary elections since April 2021, including seven early votes, as parties repeatedly struggled to assemble stable governing coalitions. Failed coalition negotiations led to caretaker Cabinets and further elections.

In the latest parliamentary vote in April, Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria won 131 of the National Assembly’s 240 seats, securing an outright majority.