---
title: "Bulgaria’s Iotova wins presidential runoff, near-final results show"
description: "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."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "World"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-11-02-bulgarias-iotova-wins-presidential-runoff-near-final-results-show/"
published: "2026-11-02T10:35:15"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 141
---

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

> 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.

By Reuters · Published 2 November 2026, 12:35 SAST

## Content

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)