Iliana Iotova, the interim president of Bulgaria, has won the second round of the nation's presidential elections according to near-final results released by the Central Electoral Commission on Monday. This victory marks a historic milestone as she becomes the first woman elected to serve as the country's head of state, despite reports indicating low voter participation.
With 99.95% of voting records processed, the Iotova-Valchev ticket secured 57.58% of the votes, amounting to approximately 1.1 million ballots. Their opponents, Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev, received 39.47%, or roughly 749,500 votes. Additionally, about 2.95% of voters selected the option "I support no one." The runoff election was necessitated by the first round held on October 25, where no candidate achieved the majority required for a direct win.
In that initial round, Iotova and Valchev led with 34.6% of the vote, edging out Gyurov and Kandev who garnered 32%, which propelled both pairs into the second round held on Sunday. Iotova assumed the role of interim president in January following the resignation of Rumen Radev, who stepped down to run for a parliamentary seat. Radev, who won his legislative bid with a ticket viewed by many analysts as favorable to the Kremlin, has publicly endorsed Iotova.
Both Radev and Iotova have advocated for a diplomatic solution to the War in Ukraine. Following the release of early exit poll results on November 1 in Sofia, Iotova addressed the public alongside Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
Sources: G1.