Today, the big competition for the selection of the best mayors for 2026 has started on the Kmetnagodinata.bg platform. From September 14, citizens will be able to give their support and assessment of the work of the mayors in the national competition “Mayor of the Year“.
For another year, Kmeta.bg gives Bulgarians the opportunity to determine the most successful mayors in the country. The competition covers the third year of the current mandate 2023-2027, and the mayors of all 265 municipalities in Bulgaria have the right to participate. An exception this year is the mayor of Elin Pelin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Ivaylo Simeonov, who will not participate in the race, as he is a candidate for president.
Categories and awards
In 2026, citizens will be able to vote in a total of 8 categories.
The main categories are:
Mayor of the Year Mayor of the Citizens
The special categories are:
Urban Environment
Smart City
Tourism and Culture
Sports and Youth Policies
Investments and growth
Health and demographic policy
Every citizen can support their favorite in each of the six special categories, as well as cast their vote in the two main categories – “Mayor of the Year“ and “Mayor of the Citizens“.
Online voting – fast, easy and secure
Voting begins at 00:00 on September 14 and will continue until 23:59 on September 24, 2026, inclusive.
The vote is held online via the Kmetnagodinata.bg platform. All citizens of Bulgaria can participate in the vote, and voting from IP addresses outside the country is not allowed.
Registration for participation can be done in three ways:
– via a Facebook profile;
– via a Google profile;
– via an email address that must be confirmed.
With one registration, one vote can be submitted within 24 hours. Detailed instructions on how to vote are published on the home page of Kmetnagodinata.bg.
Mayors in three groups
In each of the eight categories, three winners will be awarded – one representative from a small, medium and large municipality, according to the number of residents:
Small municipalities – up to 20,000 inhabitants;
Medium municipalities – from 20,000 to 50,000 inhabitants;
Large municipalities – over 50,000 inhabitants.
The distribution is based on the official data of the National Statistical Institute for Population as of December 31, 2025.
Measures against manipulation
The organizers have provided technical and organizational measures to guarantee the fairness of the vote. Registration by email is protected, and temporary or disposable email addresses are not allowed.
The system monitors the number of votes from one IP address and the frequency of requests from one registration. Technical data is recorded for each vote, including the time of submission, IP address, browser used and technical device identifier.
During the voting, the organizer monitors for unusual clusters of votes, automated voting and other signs of manipulation. If violations are found, the affected votes may be canceled, and the relevant IP address or device may be blocked.
The current ranking will be available on Kmetnagodinata.bg during the voting. After the end of the voting at 23:59 on September 24, the results will be hidden until their official announcement.
The Grand Finale
The winners of the “Mayor of the Year“ competition 2026 will be announced at the official award ceremony on September 29, 2026.
The ceremony will be broadcast on BNT1 on October 4 at 3:30 p.m.
“Mayor of the Year” 2026 is realized with the support of Astellas Pharma, Luxury Living, Glavbolgarstroy, Vivacom, Huvepharma, Efbet, Postbank, Biovet, Electrohold, Huawei, Metroreklama, Billboard. Partners of the competition are also BNT, BNR, Economic.bg, “Economy” magazine, Sofia Tech Park, Bridal Fashion, Aggression.
Source: kmeta.bg