Presidential election begins in Bulgaria
Photo: A polling station in Bulgaria during the presidential election (Getty Images)
Presidential elections began in Bulgaria on October 25, with 27 candidates running for the positions of president and vice president. Nearly 6.6 million citizens are eligible to vote, according to Bulgarian media outlets BNT News and BTA.
Voting in Bulgaria began in the morning and will continue until 8:00 p.m. local time. If queues remain at polling stations, voting may be extended by another hour.
According to Bulgarian media, approximately 6.59 million citizens are eligible to vote in these elections. They include around 46,000 young people who turned or will turn 18 this year and will be able to vote for the first time.
A total of 9,373 electronic voting machines have been prepared for use in the country. The largest polling stations, with more than 780 registered voters, have been equipped with two devices each. There are 2,249 such polling stations in total.
Voting has also been organized outside Bulgaria, with 613 polling stations opened abroad.
What is known about the presidential candidates
According to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), 27 candidates are participating in the presidential election, running for the positions of president and vice president. Initially, 28 candidate lists were submitted for registration, but the Central Election Commission (CEC) canceled the registration of one of them.
The reason was failure to meet the requirements of the Electoral Code: independent candidates must collect at least 2,500 voter signatures in support of their registration.
The main contenders in the presidential race include incumbent President Iliana Iotova, former acting Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, and Revival party leader Kostadin Kostadinov.
According to polls conducted ahead of the vote, Iotova is in the lead, with Gyurov as her main rival. Kostadinov ranks third, trailing the two leading contenders by a significant margin.
In particular, a poll conducted by Market Links and published on October 21 found that 47.3% of respondents were prepared to support Iotova, compared with 30.6% for Gyurov and 10.3% for Kostadinov.
How the winner will be determined
To win in the first round, a candidate must receive more than half of the valid votes, provided that more than 50% of eligible voters take part in the election.
If none of the candidates meet these requirements, Bulgaria will hold a second round of the presidential election. It is scheduled for November 1.
In January 2026, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced his resignation after nearly nine years in office.
On January 23, the Constitutional Court terminated his presidential powers ahead of schedule. Radev became the first president of Bulgaria to voluntarily leave office before the end of his term.
Following his resignation, the duties of head of state passed to Vice President Iliana Iotova.
