Bulgaria election: exit polls put President Iotova narrowly ahead of Gyurov, runoff on 1 November
Sitting president Iliana Iotova and her running mate Kiril Valchev lead the first round of Bulgaria's presidential election with about 35-36.5% of the vote, according to three exit polls, ahead of Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev on about 32%. No one is near a majority, so the two pairs are heading for a runoff on 1 November. Turnout was very low, at around 21-22%.
Bulgarians voted on Sunday, 25 October, in the first round of the election for the country's president and vice-president. According to exit polls released after voting ended, the sitting head of state, Iliana Iotova, and her running mate Kiril Valchev are in first place, but only a few points ahead of the pair Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev.
The figures come from three polling agencies and are exit polls, not official results. Alpha Research put Iotova and Valchev on 35.3% and Gyurov and Kandev on 32.4%. Trend gave 36.5% against 32.4%, and Myara 35.2% against 32.2%.
Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin, backed by the Vazrazhdane party, are third in all three polls, with between 12.6% (Alpha Research) and 14% (Trend). Further behind are Radostin Vasilev and Krasimir Manov, with 3.4-4.1%, Ivelin Mihaylov and Yuliana Mateeva, with 3-3.5%, and Ivan Hristanov and Stoyanka Cherkezova, with 1.6-2.2%. According to Myara, 4.8% of voters ticked the option 'I do not support anyone'; Trend put that figure at 3.6%.
Since no candidate pair is close to winning more than half of the votes, the two leading tandems are set to meet again in a runoff next Sunday, 1 November, the Trend agency and the broadcaster NOVA said.
Turnout was very low. The pollsters estimated it at between 21.2% (Myara) and 22.3% (Alpha Research); Alpha Research put the number of voters at about 1.47 million. Journalists on NOVA television called the turnout desperately low.
The vote came a day after former MEP Slavi Binev was shot dead at his home in Sofia. The Central Election Commission (CIK) is expected to publish the official count over the coming hours.