Iliana Yotova Wins Bulgarian Presidential Runoff with Exit Polls Showing 50.7 to 52.5 Percent

Iliana Yotova secured a second term as Bulgaria’s president on 1 November 2026, according to exit polls released after polls closed at 8 pm. Five polling agencies placed her ticket with Kiril Valchev between 50.7 and 52.5 percent of the vote. Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received between 43.4 and 44.7 percent. The option to support neither candidate drew about 4 percent.

Alpha Research gave Yotova 52.5 percent and Gyurov 43.4 percent. Trend reported 51.6 to 43.4. Market Links listed 50.7 to 44. Gallup International showed 51 to 44. Myara had 51 to 44.7. Agencies said the gap of roughly 120000 to 170000 votes made a reversal unlikely. Official results began to appear later in the evening. With 17.39 percent of protocols processed, Yotova led 57.94 to 39.01 percent.

Yotova, 61, has served as acting president since January after Rumen Radev resigned to enter parliamentary politics. Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria later won early parliamentary elections. Yotova ran with the backing of that formation and several left-wing groups. She is set to become the first woman directly elected to the office. The constitution allows two five-year terms. The months she has already served do not count toward the limit, so she can run again in 2031 if she chooses.

Gyurov, 50, is a former caretaker prime minister. He received support from Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change. GERB-UDF and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms did not field candidates. Boyko Borissov said he voted for Gyurov but did not instruct his party’s supporters to do the same. Delyan Peevski stayed silent in the final week.

First-round results on 25 October gave Yotova 34.76 percent and Gyurov 31.95 percent, with turnout around 22 percent. The runoff attracted similar low participation. Early figures on election day showed turnout near 29 percent by 7 pm in one survey. Eligible voters numbered roughly 6.6 million.

The campaign took place against a background of drone attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea that killed about two dozen seafarers. Both candidates addressed regional security and the war in Ukraine. Yotova and Radev have called for a diplomatic settlement. Gyurov’s backers have taken a more pro-Western line. The president’s role is largely ceremonial, but the office carries influence over foreign policy statements and caretaker government appointments.

Yotova voted in Sofia and told reporters she hoped for higher turnout in future contests. Gyurov accepted the preliminary results and said the political fight would continue. The Central Election Commission is expected to publish final tallies in the coming days. Yotova will formally begin her elected term in January 2027.

The low turnout has already prompted questions about the strength of the mandate. In the first round, 4.41 percent of voters chose the neither option. Similar levels appeared in the runoff. Parties that stayed out of the race will now decide how to position themselves toward the new president and the sitting government under Prime Minister Rumen Radev.