A full protocol count from Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) showed incumbent Iliana Yotova winning the Nov. 1 runoff with 57.566%, giving her an elected mandate after she assumed office by succession in January.
The CEC results page, timestamped 2:15 a.m. ET (07:15 UTC) Monday, Nov. 2, showed all precinct protocols processed. It listed 1,093,852 votes for Yotova and running mate Kiril Valchev. Former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov and his running mate Georgi Kandev received 750,251 votes, or 39.483%. Another 56,080 voters, or 2.951%, selected “I do not support anyone.”
The Constitution requires a first-round presidential winner to receive more than half of valid votes, with turnout exceeding half of eligible voters. The CEC’s Oct. 25 count gave Yotova and Valchev 528,951 votes and Gyurov and Kandev 486,232, sending the two leading tickets to the runoff. EconoTimes previously covered the first-round count.
A separate CEC turnout update showed 19.33% participation by 9 a.m. ET (14:00 UTC) Sunday, Nov. 1, based on 1,282,848 of 6,637,274 eligible voters. That was a pre-close snapshot, not a final turnout rate.
Yotova assumed the presidency on Jan. 23 after former President Rumen Radev resigned and the Constitutional Court ended his presidential powers, according to the Bulgarian presidential office. She had been elected vice president alongside Radev in 2016 and re-elected in 2021, the office says.
Anadolu Agency and Deutsche Welle described Yotova as the first woman elected president of Bulgaria. The Constitution sets a five-year presidential term, defines the president as head of state and allows the officeholder to return legislation to Parliament for reconsideration. It describes Bulgaria as a parliamentary republic and names the president commander in chief.
DW characterized the victory as a boost for Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Yotova’s political ally. Anadolu Ajansı reported that the party led by Radev won 131 of 240 National Assembly seats in April.
