Bulgaria еlects its seventh President and Vice President

Voting in Bulgaria's presidential and vice-presidential runoff begins at 7 a.m. on November 1, with Bulgarian citizens at home and abroad casting their ballots. The two tickets vying for voters' support are Iliana Iotova–Kiril Valchev and Andrey Gyurov–Georgi Kandev, who finished first and second, respectively, among the 27 candidate tickets in the first round held on October 25.

Campaigning and the publication of opinion poll results related to the election are prohibited until voting officially ends at 8 p.m.

According to the Central Election Commission, more than 6.58 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote. If voters are still queuing outside polling stations at 8 p.m., voting may be extended until 9 p.m. The same rule applies to Bulgarians voting abroad, according to local time.

Voting is taking place on 11,902 machines in more than three-quarters of all polling stations. Paper ballots are being used in polling stations with fewer than 300 registered voters.

A total of 613 polling stations have been set up for Bulgarians abroad in 60 countries. The largest numbers are in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with 82, followed by Türkiye with 78 and Germany with 70.

Voting machines are available at 242 polling stations abroad.

A different set of voting machines, placed in storage before the first round, has been sent for use in the November 1 runoff, Central Election Commission (CEC) spokesperson Stoyanka Balova-Tsvetkova explained. The reason is that there is not enough time during the week between the two rounds to install the new software on the devices and send them abroad again.

To ensure transparency in the voting process, video surveillance has been provided during the counting of ballots and the completion of election protocols. The "Elections 360°" application offers an interactive map of polling stations, information about the candidates and the option to follow the election results.

The presidential ticket receiving the highest number of votes cast is declared the winner of the runoff, regardless of voter turnout.

The President is the head of state of the Republic of Bulgaria and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the country's armed forces. The President is assisted by a Vice President in exercising these powers. The President and Vice President are directly elected by Bulgarian citizens for a five-year term.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov