In brief
In Sofia on 1 November 2026, Iliana Iotova and her running mate Kiril Valchev secured the presidency after official and parallel counts showed them ahead of Andrey Gurov’s ticket. Turnout increased among Bulgarian voters in North Macedonia and Romania. Exit polls and parallel counting from five agencies corroborated the result, while Prime Minister Rumen Radev praised the peaceful outcome.
In Sofia on 1 November 2026, Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev announced that they had won the presidential and vice‑presidential elections, following the official close of the runoff. The candidates celebrated the historic moment of a first‑woman presidency, while emphasising the role of the public vote and the messages they had received during the campaign.
After the polls closed on Sunday, a statement issued by Iotova thanked voters for exercising their right to cast ballots. She added that the results would be heard, saying, “Their vote means a lot, because we will listen to what they have told us.” In the same announcement she criticised the opposition’s campaign strategy, saying, “I cannot explain who misled Mr Andrey Gurov into waging this attack campaign against our presidential ticket.” Valchev joined her in welcoming supporters, noting that “twice as many voters supported Bulgaria having its first woman president.” He also thanked Bulgarians abroad, saying they would be his priority as vice president.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev attended the briefing and stated that the election had offered the nation a “choice for peace, stability, normality and a sustainable and clear outlook.” He framed the win as a return to a calmer and more stable political trajectory for Bulgaria.
Turnout data from abroad showed a clear surge in participation among expatriate Bulgarians. In North Macedonia, 491 citizens voted in seven polling stations, a figure that exceeded the turnout in the first round and was the highest recorded there since 2022. The most active venue, the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje, received 137 votes, while the Consulate General in Bitola, Ohrid, Strumica, Kavadarci, Kocani and Prilep received 68, 108, 71, 45, 38 and 24 respectively. In Bucharest, Romania, 327 citizens cast ballots at the single Bulgarian Embassy polling station, almost doubling the 167 voters who participated during the October 25 first‑round run.
Parallel counting carried out by five independent agencies—Myara, Gallup International, Trend, Alpha Research and Market Links—confirmed the headline results. Trend reported a 58.1% share for Iotova/Valchev and 38.9% for Gurov/Kandev. Market Links recorded 56.5% for the opposition and 40.6% for the winners. Alpha Research delivered 57.4% versus 39.6%, Myara tallied 58.2% against 38.6%, and Gallup International Balkan logged 56.1% versus 39.1%.
Collectively, the agencies indicated that Iotova and Valchev enjoyed between 56.1% and 58.2% of the combined vote share, a comfortable margin over Gurov and Kandev. The exit polls, parallel counts and official results all converged on the same conclusion, signalling a decisive win for the presidential ticket seeking to lead the nation into a new era.
While the victory has been cemented by official counts and multiple independent analyses, questions remain about the full extent of foreign voter mobilisation, the mechanisms underlying the reported attack campaign against Gurov, and the interpretations of the variations across the different parallel counting agencies. These uncertainties have yet to be fully resolved and remain topics for further investigation.
