The deadline for political parties and coalitions to submit their applications to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to participate in the upcoming regular presidential elections expires today, BTA reports. The vote for the head of state is scheduled for October 25, 2026, and if necessary, a second round will be held on November 1.
What is the balance hours before the deadline?
According to current information from the Central Election Commission, broadcast on the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) [https://bnr.bg/main/post/525827/kraen-srok-za-partii-i-koalitsii-za-registratsiya-za-prezidentskite-izbori], a total of eight political forces have submitted registration documents to date. Among them are the names of “Vazrazhdane“, “Movement for Rights and Freedoms“ (MPS), “Bulgarian Socialist Party“ (BSP), MECH and “Velicie“.
The big political surprise comes from the camp of the largest political force in the country. According to Nova Television (NOVA) [https://manager.bg/%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/ostava-samo-den-do-krainia-srok-za-registracia-na-partii-i-koalicii-za-prezidentskia-vot], party GERB will not nominate its own candidate for “Dondukov“ 2, which rearranges the balance of power in the campaign.
Important dates in the CEC timeline
After today's end for the parties, the next key deadlines in the CEC timeline [https://www.cik.bg/bg/pvr2026] include:
- September 14: Deadline for registration of Initiative Committees nominating independent candidates. So far, six such committees have been registered, supporting candidates such as Iliyana Yotova (with vice Kiril Valchev) and Andrey Gyurov (with vice Georgi Kandev).
- September 22: Last day on which registered formations can announce and enter the specific names of their presidential candidate pairs.
- September 25: Official start of the election campaign in Bulgaria.