Bulgaria's Iotova wins presidential runoff, near-final results show


Presidential candidate and incumbent Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova arrives to vote during the second round of the presidential election, in Sofia, Bulgaria, November 1, 2026. REUTERS/Spasiyana Sergieva

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)

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