Bulgaria Presidential Vote: 25 Oct 2026 Guide

Bulgaria’s parliament has put a presidential election on a Sunday that will also be watched for whether a second round is required a week later. The National Assembly’s decision, published in the State Gazette, schedules elections for president and vice-president on Sunday, 25 October 2026. Novinite reported that the Central Election Commission’s chronogram, adopted in August, sets a runoff on Sunday, 1 November 2026 if no ticket meets the statutory test. The first date is in the Assembly’s decision. The runoff date is the Commission timetable as reported. Check cik.bg after the first round before you treat 1 November as certain.

Verification note: The State Gazette text schedules 25 October 2026 and names the Assembly vote of 31 July 2026. Novinite described polling from 07:00 until 20:00, with a possible extension no later than 21:00 if voters are still waiting, and a reflection day on 24 October. AP reported the parliamentary scheduling and described the presidency as a largely ceremonial office that commands the armed forces, can veto legislation, and signs treaties. This page does not endorse a ticket.

Times in IST

Bulgaria follows the European Union daylight-saving calendar. Clocks go back at 03:00 on the last Sunday of October. In 2026 that Sunday is 25 October, which is election day. By the time polls would open at 07:00, the country should already be on Eastern European Time, UTC+2, if the usual change has happened. India is UTC+5:30, three hours and thirty minutes ahead.

• Reflection day: Saturday, 24 October 2026, campaign pause as described by Novinite
• First round: Sunday, 25 October 2026
• Reported hours: 07:00–20:00 local, extension no later than 21:00 if voters remain at the door
• IST, on UTC+2: 07:00 local is 10:30 IST; 20:00 local is 00:30 IST on Monday 26 October
• Runoff, if required: Sunday, 1 November 2026, on the Commission chronogram reported by Novinite

A Monday-morning reader in India is looking at a count that started after midnight IST, not at a Sunday-evening Indian programme. If the Commission later prints a different closing hour, use that hour.

What the office is, and what the ballot is

Voters choose a president and a vice-president as a ticket, not as two unrelated offices. AP’s account of the scheduling described the presidency as mainly ceremonial, with day-to-day executive power sitting with the prime minister and the National Assembly. The president still leads the armed forces, can return legislation, and signs treaties. Those are the stakes of the office. They are not a reason to treat the race as a parliamentary election. The Assembly is not being dissolved on 25 October.

On 23 September 2026 the Central Election Commission drew ballot numbers for the presidential tickets, in a draw BTA reported from the National Assembly building. The numbers apply nationwide and at polling stations abroad. This page does not reproduce the 27-ticket list. Names, numbers, and any later disqualification belong on the Commission’s site, where they can be updated. AP reported that the governing party had endorsed incumbent President Iliana Yotova. That is a news report about one ticket, not a full ballot and not a preference.

When a runoff happens

Bulgarian presidential elections use a two-round system. If no ticket wins the required share under the electoral code — Novinite summarised this as more than half the votes with the turnout condition the code sets — the two leading tickets go to a second Sunday. The chronogram places that Sunday on 1 November 2026. Do not announce a runoff in the first hour of counting. The Commission has to establish whether the statutory test is met. Novinite also said the Commission must announce final first-round results within three days. A television projection inside that window is not the final act.

How to follow the count

The Commission publishes results on its own domain. Use that file rather than a party total. Stations abroad are part of the same election; their envelopes are not a separate contest, but they can arrive in the published totals on a lag. Say so if you are explaining a late movement of a few tenths of a percent.

From India, the close is after midnight IST on the UTC+2 reading. Live blogs that promise a complete picture before 01:00 IST on 26 October are ahead of the close. The reflection day on 24 October is a campaign rule, not a polling day. Nobody votes on Saturday under the timetable Novinite described.

What to ignore

Ignore a “full count” image that has no Commission timestamp. Ignore claims that the Assembly election and the presidential election are the same ballot; they are not. Ignore seat maths. This is not a proportional parliament. It is a national executive ticket, and the winner is a person, not a coalition agreement on election night. Government formation in the parliamentary sense happened on a different calendar.

Context for readers who do not follow Sofia daily

AP noted that the October vote sits in an unusual sequence: President Rumen Radev left the presidency and became prime minister after his party’s success in an earlier parliamentary election, with Yotova — previously vice-president — in the presidency. You do not need that biography to read the count. You do need it to avoid headlines that still treat Radev as the incumbent president. Titles of office in October 2026 should be checked against the Commission’s ballot, not against a 2021 results page. The old results site for November 2021 is still online and is the wrong election.

Related reading: Brazil’s possible runoff, also on 25 October, which is a different country and a different ballot, Latvia’s parliamentary election, and how to check a result. Two elections on one Sunday need two clocks on any news site; that is a publishing problem we handle under web development.

First round, reflection day, and the week after

The day before the vote is a reflection day in the chronogram Novinite described: campaigning stops, voting does not start. Publishing a new attack advertisement on 24 October is a campaign question for the Bulgarian authorities, not a polling update. On 25 October the question is turnout and the two-ticket test. If the leading ticket is clearly over the statutory line once the count is mature, there is no second Sunday. If it is not, 1 November becomes the election that matters, and the first-round percentages are only a qualifying round. Hold both possibilities in the same article until the Commission closes the first.

Stations abroad count in the same race. A large diaspora vote can arrive in the published file later than Sofia’s city stations. Movement of a few tenths after midnight IST can be that file, not a revision of ballots already counted in the capital. Ask whether the update is domestic, abroad, or a correction before you write “reversal.” The Commission’s three-day window for final first-round results, as Novinite summarised it, is the period during which “final” should be used sparingly.

The 2021 results site is still easy to find and is the wrong election. If a chart does not say 2026 on the axis, do not embed it. Ballot numbers drawn on 23 September are the order on the paper; they are not a ranking of support. Number one on the ballot is a draw, not a frontrunner. That distinction is worth one sentence in any explainer aimed at people who do not read Cyrillic, because the number is the only thing some graphics will translate.

AP described the presidency as mainly ceremonial and still real: the president leads the armed forces, can return a bill, and signs treaties. That is the office on the ballot, shared with a vice-president on the same ticket. It is not a parliamentary majority. The Assembly that scheduled 25 October is not itself up for re-election that Sunday. Keep the two institutions in separate sentences so a foreign reader does not think Sofia is choosing a prime minister by direct vote. The prime minister is a parliamentary office. The president is the name on this ballot.

FAQ

When is Bulgaria’s presidential election?

Sunday, 25 October 2026, under the National Assembly decision published in the State Gazette.

When would a runoff be held?

Sunday, 1 November 2026, if the electoral code requires one. That date is the Commission chronogram as reported by Novinite. Confirm it on cik.bg after the first round.

What are the polling hours in IST?

Reported local hours are 07:00–20:00. After the 25 October clock change, 07:00 is 10:30 IST and 20:00 is 00:30 IST on 26 October, if the country is on UTC+2.

Is the National Assembly on this ballot?

No. Voters are choosing a president and vice-president as a ticket.

Where is the candidate list?

On the Central Election Commission site. Ballot numbers were drawn on 23 September 2026. This page does not copy the full list.

Contact TheTriFusion if you need the two Sundays modelled as separate events in a CMS.