Just 23% Voted in Bulgaria’s First Presidential Round

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has confirmed that Bulgaria’s October 25 presidential election failed to produce a winner, with only 1,525,034 of the country’s 6,584,025 eligible voters casting ballots, or nearly 23%, according to the final results announced by the Commission.

“No president or vice-president of the Republic was elected in the elections held on October 25, 2026, as less than half of the eligible voters participated, and none of the candidates received more than half of the valid votes cast,” the CEC said.

The two presidential tickets with the most votes will face each other in a runoff on November 1. Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev, backed by an Initiative Committee and listed as ballot number 4, received 486,232 valid votes. Iliana Yotova and Kiril Valchev, also nominated by an Initiative Committee and listed as ballot number 25, secured 528,951 valid votes. A total of 67,353 voters selected the option “I do not support anyone.”

The first round recorded the lowest turnout in Bulgaria’s modern electoral history, raising questions about whether the candidates can mobilize more voters for Sunday’s runoff and how supporters of the different political parties will vote.

Communications expert Natalia Dimitrova and Yulian Angelov of VMRO discussed the prospects for the second round on Nova TV.

Dimitrova said voters who had supported Progressive Bulgaria in April did not turn out in comparable numbers this time, while the core supporters of the parties backing Gyurov appeared to have mobilized more effectively. She added that the choices of GERB and DPS voters remained uncertain.

Angelov predicted that participation would increase on November 1, suggesting that some voters had stayed away because they expected Yotova to win the first round. He also expressed the view that voters of Revival would support her in the runoff.

Turning to the candidates’ policy priorities, Dimitrova highlighted foreign policy and argued that Gyurov and Kandev offered the right approach. “No one is in favor of war,” she said, calling on both presidential tickets to participate in a debate focused specifically on foreign policy.

Angelov, by contrast, argued that domestic political issues would play a greater role in voters’ decisions. He said Yotova and Valchev were offering a patriotic platform that could help bridge divisions in society.

Angelov also called for a debate, claiming that Georgi Kandev had declined to face his opponent, Kiril Valchev. He said he hoped Yotova and Valchev would win because they could defend Bulgaria’s national interest.

“We, from VMRO, will push for the President’s powers to be strengthened, as they were curtailed by the 'assembly arrangement'. We want the Head of State to have the sole authority to appoint the caretaker Prime Minister, to be able to propose legislation on specific topics, and to have the power to call for a vote of no confidence in the government or the parliament,” Angelov said, adding that the president should serve as a check on Bulgarian politics.

Dimitrova said her support for Gyurov and Kandev stemmed from the fact that they were backed by political forces outside the current government. “They need to win so that this check on the authorities can exist,” she said.

The first round drew slightly more than 1.5 million voters, with turnout estimated at around 23%. By comparison, nearly 4 million people voted in the first round of the 2016 presidential election, while approximately 2.5 million participated in 2021.

Presidential elections in Bulgaria generally attract more voters in the first round than in the runoff. One notable exception occurred in 2001, when the second-round contest between Georgi Parvanov and Petar Stoyanov drew more voters following an unexpected first-round result.

The only vote with lower participation was the referendum on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, in which fewer than 1.5 million Bulgarians voted. Since that was a referendum rather than a political election, the 2026 presidential first round represents the lowest turnout in modern Bulgarian history for an election to the National Assembly, the presidency or the European Parliament. European Parliament elections, in particular, generally record participation below 35%.

Analysts have attributed the low turnout to a negative campaign, the widespread expectation that the outcome was already decided and a lack of confidence in the political class. The absence of two major political formations, GERB-SDS and DPS, was also cited as an important factor.

The 2013 referendum on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant remains the record-low participation vote, with turnout at 20.22%. A boycott by opponents of expanding nuclear power was among the reasons for the low participation, although 1,405,463 people still cast ballots.

Turnout in the 2007 European Parliament elections was 28.60%. Participation in the next two European elections was also relatively low, reaching 32.64% in 2019 and 33.78% in 2024.

Repeated parliamentary elections and unstable governing coalitions in recent years have also contributed to voter disengagement. In 2024, parliamentary turnout fell to a record low of 34.41%. The second round of the 2021 presidential election also remained below 35%, with participation at 34.84%, although it was not among the five elections with the lowest turnout.

The highest participation rates were mostly recorded in the early years of Bulgaria’s transition to democracy. The record since 1989 was set in June 1990, when Bulgarians elected the Seventh Grand National Assembly, which was tasked with drafting a new constitution. Turnout reached 90.79%, a level that has not been surpassed. A total of 6,976,620 people voted, exceeding Bulgaria’s current total population.

High participation continued in 1991, when 83.9% of eligible voters took part in the parliamentary elections.

The presidential election in early 1992 recorded turnout of 75.39% in the first round and 75.9% in the second. The 1994 parliamentary election was the last to attract more than 75% of voters, with turnout at 75.3%. Participation in the 2001 parliamentary election reached 67%.

By comparison, turnout in Bulgaria’s most recent parliamentary election, held on April 19, 2026, was 51.11%.