In brief
The Central Election Commission announced that Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev are ahead in the Bulgarian presidential runoff, holding nearly 58% of the vote after a portion of tally sheets has been processed. Their opponents, Andrey Gurov and Georgi Kandev, trail with about 39% of the votes counted. The official results, based on the first processed protocols and the more recent tally sheet data, confirm the incumbent’s majority.
In a recent announcement, Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) revealed that President Iliana Iotova and her vice‑presidential running mate Kiril Valchev are in the lead in the second round of the presidential election.
Official data released by the CEC show that Iotova and Valchev hold 57.943% of the vote, according to 17.39% of election commission protocols processed as of 11:00 p.m. local time on the night of the vote. Their challengers, Andrey Gurov and Georgi Kandev, have gathered 39.007% of the vote in the same partial count.
Later, the CEC supplied more extensive preliminary results after processing 52.42% of tally sheets. Those results recorded 58.0% of the vote for Iotova and Valchev, equivalent to 580,918 votes, while Gurov and Kandev received 39.01%, or 390,988 votes. None of the above accounted for 3.04% of the vote, or 30,473 voters.
The data underscore a clear majority for the incumbent president and her vice‑presidential partner. The CEC continues to track the verification of additional tally sheets, which may refine the final numbers but are unlikely to change the overall outcome.
For Bulgarians, the result means president‑to‑president continuity as Iotova moves toward completing her term. The election also confirms the vice‑presidential pairing for the same term, offering continuity in the executive branch. The opposition parties will be reviewing the figures as they plan their post‑electoral strategy and campaign agenda. The CEC’s ongoing tally of votes will provide a conclusive, final count next week.
