Day of reflection in Bulgaria ahead of presidential runoff

October 31 is the official day of reflection ahead of the runoff in Bulgaria's presidential and vice-presidential elections. Election campaigning and the publication of opinion polls related to the vote are prohibited on this day.

Voters have just a few hours remaining to decide which of the two presidential tickets that made it to the runoff they will support. Both were nominated by initiative committees.

With voter turnout standing at 22.98% in the first round, Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev received 528,951 votes (34.76%), while Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev secured the support of 486,232 voters (31.95%). The October 25 first round saw an unprecedentedly low turnout, with only 1,525,034 of the 6,584,025 eligible voters casting their ballots in Bulgaria and abroad. There are hopes that the two presidential tickets will succeed in boosting turnout in the runoff and attracting new supporters.

The main issues concerning Bulgarian society during the election campaign were the role of the presidential institution in the country's governance, security amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, relations with Russia, and Bulgaria's policies within the EU and NATO. The incidents involving the sinking of merchant ships near the Bulgarian coast have heightened concerns over security in the Black Sea. The rising cost of living, low incomes and the 2027 state budget have also been sources of concern for voters.

Designed to serve as a mediator and balancing force between the three main branches of government - the legislative, executive and judicial - the presidency holds consultations with parliamentary groups and hands out mandates to form a government. If the parties represented in parliament fail to agree on a government, the Constitution gives the head of state a key role in forming a caretaker cabinet.

• National unity is the purpose of the presidency

In the first round of the presidential election, a candidate ticket must receive more than half of the votes cast, provided that voter turnout exceeds 50%, to be declared the winner. In the runoff, however, the winner is the candidate who receives the highest number of votes, regardless of voter turnout.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov