SOFIA - Exit polls released after voting closed in Bulgaria's presidential election on Sunday (October 25) put acting president Iliana Iotova narrowly ahead of former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, with neither candidate close to an outright majority, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported. The results available at this stage indicate that a second round of the presidential election will take place on November 1, 2026, BNR said.

Source: Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Oct 25

According to Market LINKS' exit poll, the ticket of Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev leads the presidential vote with 32.2% of the ballots, Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received 31.6%, and Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin garnered 14.5%, BNR reported. A Gallup exit poll put Iotova and Valchev higher, at 36.6%, with Gyurov and Kandev on 31.8% and Kostadinov and Volgin third on 15.7%.

Source: Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Oct 25

32.2%-36.6%Iotova-Valchev share across the four exit polls reported by BNR - Market LINKS 32.2%, Alpha Research 35.3%, Myara 35.6%, Gallup 36.6%
31.6%-32.5%Gyurov-Kandev share across the same four exit polls
22.2%-24.4%First-round turnout in the exit polls; Market LINKS reported record-low turnout
Nov 1, 2026Date of the presidential runoff indicated by the exit-poll results

Two further exit polls carried the same ordering. Myara, a media partner of BNR, put Iotova-Valchev on 35.6% and Gyurov-Kandev on 32.5% as of 8 p.m., with Kostadinov-Volgin on 13.5% and 4.7% of voters selecting 'None of the above', while Alpha Research put Iotova-Valchev on 35.3% and Gyurov-Kandev on 32.4% as of 7 p.m., BNR reported. Voter turnout in the first round stood at 24.4% in the Market LINKS and Gallup report, and at 22.2%-22.3% in the Myara and Alpha Research polls.

Source: Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Oct 25

Why a runoff is now expected

For a president to be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive more than half of all valid votes, and voter turnout must exceed 50% of all eligible voters; otherwise a runoff is held within seven days, with the candidate receiving the most votes declared the winner, BNR said. A total of 27 presidential and vice-presidential tickets entered the race - seven nominated by political parties and coalitions and 20 by initiative committees - and the president is elected for a five-year term.

Source: Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Oct 25

A contest split over Ukraine and the Black Sea attacks

The election campaign unfolded amid concern about deadly drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, and both leading candidates condemned the attacks while differing over the broader response to Russia's war in Ukraine, according to reporting carried by Town Press. Iotova, backed by Prime Minister Rumen Radev, has emphasised diplomacy and public exhaustion with prolonged fighting, while Gyurov, supported by pro-Western reformist parties, signed a security cooperation agreement with Ukraine while serving as caretaker prime minister, the report said. Exit polls are projections, not official results; the official count will confirm whether the Iotova-Gyurov pairing goes forward to November 1.

Source: Town Press / AP reporting, Oct 25