Presidential candidate and incumbent Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova, flanked by Prime Minister Rumen Radev, speaks after the first exit polls of the second round of the presidential election, in Sofia, Bulgaria,
Presidential candidate and incumbent Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova arrives to vote during the second round of the presidential election, in Sofia, Bulgaria
Nov 2 (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s acting President Iliana Iotova won the presidential runoff election, near-final results from the Central Election Commission showed on Monday, becoming the country’s first elected female head of state amid low voter turnout.
With 99.95% of precinct protocols processed, the Iotova-Valchev ticket had won 57.58% of the vote, or about 1.1 million ballots, while opponents Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received 39.47%, or about 749,500 votes.About 2.95% of voters chose the “I support no one” option.
The runoff followed a first round on October 25 that gave no candidate the majority needed for an outright victory. Iotova and Valchev led with 34.6% of the vote, ahead of Gyurov and Kandev on 32%, advancing to Sunday’s second round.
Iotova, formerly vice president, became acting president in January after Radev resigned to enter the parliamentary race, which he won on a ticket many political analysts consider Kremlin-friendly.
Radev supports Iotova and they have both called for a diplomatic end to the Ukraine war.
Reporting by Alex Lefkowitz; Writing by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
