Voteer turnout for the presidential elections will be around 40%, this is a slight increase, since at the beginning of the campaign the data showed around 37%. 40% means around 2.6 – 2.7 million people, which means that there will be no elected president in the first round, bTV reported. The drone attacks in the Black Sea have the greatest increase in interest – but the poll reflects the attitudes before what happened to Sonya Koltuklieva. This became clear from the words of Genoveva Petrova, a representative of "Alpha Research", who presented a sociological survey for the presidential elections on October 25.
Will what happened to Koltuklieva affect – There is every possibility that supporters of some candidates will refuse to vote, and people who were thinking of not voting will do so (for other candidates), believes Genoveva Petrova. 17 percent answered in the "Alpha Research" survey that they will decide whether to vote at the last minute – and most of them generally vote for GERB and MRF in parliamentary elections. Quite a few of the hesitant ones voted for "Progressive Bulgaria" in the early parliamentary elections in April.
Petrova pointed out to bTV that the pair Iliyana Yotova – Kiril Valchev still lead with an impressive 41.1%, but they have a "significant drop", of about 5% compared to previous data. In second place are Andrey Gyurov – Georgi Kandev, with 28.3%, but they are reporting growth – moreover, voters who were rather hesitant at the beginning of the campaign now say they will support them. The same applies to the pair Kostadin Kostadinov – Petar Volgin, with support of 12.8%, also an increase, however, these are mostly people who voted in April for "Progressive Bulgaria".
Especially regarding the strikes in the Black Sea, voters appreciate the firmer position – most, over 33%, want help from NATO and the EU, while about 10% less want complete neutrality. The presidential candidate couple supported by the ruling party (Progressive Bulgaria) is most at risk of losing support, Genoveva Petrova specified, pointing not only to the Black Sea, but also to what happened to Sonya Koltuklieva.
Study sheet
The study was conducted between October 18-22, implemented with the own funds of "Alpha Research". 1,000 people participated, the data was collected through a direct standardized interview with tablets at the homes of the people selected for the study.