In brief
On November 1 Bulgarians went to the polls for the second round of a presidential election, pitting incumbent President Iliana Iotova and vice‑presidential candidate Kiril Valchev against challenger Andrey Gurov and Georgi Kandev. The Israeli‑style election saw no major incidents, but the Interior Ministry logged 415 reports of violations, including 305 vote‑buying cases. Official results are expected by Wednesday after exit polls are released at 8 p.m. GMT.
The presidential runoff in Bulgaria began Sunday‑November 1, with nearly 6.6 million eligible voters casting ballots across the country. Reports from the city of Sofia and from the national election commission indicate that the polling stations opened on time and the vote proceeded without major disturbances.
The contest is between incumbent President Iliana Iotova, who is running for a second term with former director general of the Bulgarian News Agency Kiril Valchev as her vice‑presidential candidate, and challenger Andrey Gurov, an adjunct professor of finance at the American University in Bulgaria, who is paired with former police officer Georgi Kandev. Iotova’s ticket is backed by the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, among others, while Gurov’s ticket enjoys support from We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria.
Both candidates have significant political footprints. Iotova, 62, has served as vice president twice (2016, 2021) under President Rumen Radev and as a member of the National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party from 2000 to 2016. Gurov had a brief stint as the country’s caretaker prime minister for 78 days in the first half of 2026 and led the parliamentary group of We Continue the Change in two legislatures.
The first round, held on October 25, was tightly contested, with Iotova‑Valchev securing 34.76 percent of the votes and Gurov‑Kandev following with 31.95 percent. Overall, 27 candidate pairs competed in that round.
Exit polls for the runoff will be released at 8:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) immediately after the polls close, while authoritative results will be announced no later than Wednesday. The election follows a five‑year term for Bulgaria’s president and vice‑president.
Violations and Oversight
The Interior Ministry has reported a calm start to the runoff, yet it received 415 reports of violations by 8 a.m. on November 1, most of them related to vote‑buying. The nationwide tally of violations was highest in Burgas (97), Vratsa (70) and Stara Zagora (44).
Of the 415 reports, 305 involved alleged vote‑buying, 34 were tied to unlawful campaigning, one concerned corporate voting, and 75 were under a broader category of election‑related infractions.
Eight criminal proceedings have been launched, with two by the Kyustendil Regional Directorate and one each by the Sofia Directorate, as well as by the regional directorates in Varna, Pernik, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Shumen.
Under the Interior Ministry Act, a total of 1,822 warning notices were issued nationwide, the largest counts coming from the Sofia Directorate (437), Plovdiv Regional Directorate (267) and Pazardzhik Regional Directorate (226). In addition, 346 specialized police operations were conducted to protect citizens' political rights, and ten individuals were detained.
The Ministry will continue monitoring the compliance with election legislation and it maintains that the process remains orderly. Bulgarian voters are expected to bring the final verdict to a decision between Iotova and Gurov, with official results due for release by mid‑week.
