10% Lead for Plevneliev in Bulgaria's Presidential Race - Final Results

Plevneliev (left) has a 10% lead before Kalfin (right) before the second round of the Bulgarian presidential elections. Photo by BGNES

Rosen Plevneliev, the candidate of ruling center-right party GERB, has won 39.8% of the vote in Bulgaria's presidential elections on Sunday, the Central Electoral Commission announced Monday night.

The results are based on the processing of 97.6% of the polling stations' protocols from Sunday's vote which is the first time ever Bulgaria voted in "combined" presidential and local elections to save money, said Biser Troyanov, CEC Spokesperson.

Thus, before the run-off in a week, Plevneliev preserves a 10% lead before his opponent, Socialist Party candidate Ivaylo Kalfin, who got 29.1% of the votes.

Bulgaria's former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, who ran as an independent, remained third, ending the race with 14% of the votes.

The CEC results confirmed with absolute certainty the reelection of the mayors in six Bulgarian district capitals: Burgas, Gabrovo, Dobrich (won by the ruling center-right party GERB's candidates), Kardzhali (won) by the ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms), and Kystendil and Pazardzhik (won by independents).

The reelection of Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, who is from the ruling party GERB, still hasn't been confirmed officially but appears to be out of the question.

Toyanov said the voter turnout will be announced officially once the CEC formally declares that a run-off will be held for the Bulgarian Presidency on November 30, Sunday.

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