Results and voter turnout
The election results clearly show a fragmented electorate that failed to produce an outright winner in the first round, in which neither candidate won an outright majority and voter turnout was extremely low. Acting President Iliana Iotova, who ran with the support of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, won 34.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of the reformist candidate and former interim Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, who won 31.9 per cent. According to the Central Election Committee, 99.94 per cent of ballots were processed. The two candidates will face off in a second round on November 1, as the final results strayed widely from predictions that Iotova could win with a landslide.
Voter turnout reached a record low of 22.5 per cent, according to Alpha Research, and was much lower than the 40.5 per cent turnout in 2021 and the 56.28 per cent in 2016. Low turnout appears linked to the fact that some major parties did not field candidates. Only around 30 per cent of the people who regularly vote for GERB, the party dominant from 2008 to 2025, voted on Sunday. The political party Movement for Rights and Freedom – New Beginning, which is tied to the sanctioned tycoon Delyan Peevski and favoured by many Bulgarian Turks, also did not participate in the elections. This lack of participation led to low turnout in regions where Bulgarian Turks live and fewer diaspora votes from Turkey.
| Election Metric | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Iotova Vote Share | 34.8% |
| Gyurov Vote Share | 31.9% |
| Sunday Turnout | 22.5% |
| 2021 Turnout | 40.5% |
| 2016 Turnout | 56.28% |
Debate and security issues
One major campaign issue involved security concerns over the shaky government response to drone attacks in the Black Sea amid the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine. This issue showed an East-West divide between the candidates. Iotova said her campaign focused on "promoting peace" and added that she would "not let foreign flags be waved on our streets, I want to see only Bulgarian flags." Gyurov challenged Iotova to an "honest and civilised" TV debate. Gyurov said, "We owe it to all the citizens who voted for us but most importantly, those who decided to stay at home, still unconvinced." Iotova has declined previous challenges to TV debates. Prime Minister Radev suggested in the runoff that people will have to choose between "peace and war" because he compared Gyurov’s pro-EU and pro-Ukraine positions to warmongering.
