CEC announces the results of the first round and schedules a runoff for November 1

The Central Election Commission must announce the results of the presidential elections held on October 25 by decision and schedule a runoff for November 1. The candidate pairs Iliyana Yotova – Kiril Valchev and Andrey Gyurov – Georgi Kandev are expected to appear in the second round.

The district election commissions have submitted the voting protocols to the CEC for re-verification. After its completion, the commission will announce the official results of the first round and determine the first two candidate pairs that will continue in the race.

The runoff is scheduled for November 1

CEC spokesperson Stoyanka Balova stated on election day:

„On the 27th, the CEC will announce the results of the elections and the names, if there is an elected candidate pair, if not, it will schedule a runoff. Then the first two candidate lists that received the largest number of votes will be determined and a new election will be scheduled for November 1, 2026.“

A second round is being held because voter turnout is below 50 percent, and no candidate pair has received more than half the votes. Both conditions must be met simultaneously in order to have a president and vice president elected in the first round.

Yotova and Valchev lead with 34.75 percent

According to the processed data from the sectional protocols, Iliyana Yotova and Kiril Valchev receive 34.75 percent and take first place. Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev are second with 31.59 percent. The difference between the two pairs is 42,715 votes.

After the official scheduling of the runoff, a new election campaign begins. It will end 24 hours before the vote on November 1.

Sources: bnrnews.bg