The president and vice president can be elected in the first round, but only if two constitutional conditions are met simultaneously. The first is that the candidate pair must receive more than half of the valid votes. The second is that more than half of the voters must have participated in the vote.
The presidential elections are scheduled for October 25, and if necessary, a runoff will be held on November 1. The ballot includes 27 presidential candidate pairs.
Both requirements apply simultaneously
The Constitutional Court has explicitly stated that the two conditions are equal and must be met together.
This means that even if a candidate receives more than half of the valid votes, he will not be elected in the first round if more than half of the voters have not gone to the polls. The opposite also applies: high turnout in itself is not enough if no candidate pair collects more than 50 percent of the valid votes.
Exactly 50 percent is also not enough, because the Constitution requires the result to be „more than half“. The calculation takes into account the actual votes cast for candidate pairs, as well as the actual ballots marked “I do not support anyone“.
What happens if one condition is not met
If neither pair meets both requirements, the first round is not declared invalid. A new election is held between the two candidates who received the most votes. The second round is held within seven days of the first.
The rule is different in the runoff. The candidate who received more votes than the other is declared elected, without requiring the participation of more than half of the voters. Thus, low turnout can prevent a victory as early as October 25, but does not block the election in the second round.
The “I do not support anyone“ votes are actual and increase the number of votes against which the required majority is calculated. However, they do not add to the result of any candidate pair, which further complicates the election of the president in the first round.
Sources: bntnews.bg