Yotova leads Gurov by just 0.6 percentage points in Market Links exit poll

Exit polls released by Market Links and Alpha Research show a very narrow advantage for incumbent Iliana Yotova over former official Andrey Gurov after the first round of Bulgaria's presidential election.

According to the Market Links exit poll published by Bulgarian television bTV, Iliana Yotova received 32.2 percent of the vote while Andrey Gurov picked up 31.6 percent — a margin of only 0.6 percentage points. Kostadin Kostadinov is placed third with about 13 percent.

Turnout and competing estimates

Market Links estimates turnout at 21.03 percent. The agency emphasised that these figures are survey estimates and not official counts of ballots.

The Alpha Research exit poll, also broadcast by bTV, gives Yotova a slightly larger lead: 35.3 percent for her and her vice-presidential running mate Kiril Vlchev, versus 32.4 percent for Gurov and his running mate Georgi Kandev. In Alpha Research's estimate Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin are third at 12.6 percent, with turnout assessed at 22.3 percent.

Both exit polls point to a second round on 1 November. A first-round victory would require more than half of the valid votes cast, provided turnout exceeds half of registered voters.

Some 6,590,000 citizens were registered to vote, and 27 candidate pairs contested the presidency. Voting in Bulgaria closed at 20:00 local time (19:00 in Skopje).

Photo: press material from the event