Bulgaria's presidential race goes to a run-off after a record low turnout

26 October 2026

Bulgaria's presidential election went to a run-off after the first round on Sunday, 25 October 2026, which saw a record low turnout. The run-off will be held on November 1. The race is expected to be decided between Iliana Yotova, the incumbent president and a 62-year-old journalist and former member of the European Parliament, and Andrey Gyurov, an economist, former deputy central bank governor and former caretaker prime minister backed by pro-Western reformist opposition parties. A total of 27 candidates contested the first round. A first-round win needed turnout above 50 per cent of the 6.6 million registered voters as well as a majority of the votes. Rumen Radev, who served two terms as president, stepped down to run for parliament, and Yotova, his former vice president, took over the presidency in January 2026.