Incumbent leader Radev wins presidential elections in Bulgaria

By Ihvan Radoykov

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AA) - Incumbent leader Rumen Radev won the runoff of the presidential elections in Bulgaria on Sunday, according to exit polls.

Alphe Research’s poll said Radev and Vice President Iliyana Yotova received 63.9 % of the votes, while Sofia University Rector Anastas Gerdjikov and Col. Nevyana Miteva received 33.1%.

A total of 3% of the voters did not support any of the candidates.

Out of 6.66 million registered voters in Bulgaria, only 2.5 million voters cast their ballots, and the turnout in the election remained at 33.7%.

A total of 90,000 votes came from Turkey in the first round, while the number of votes in the second round was around 23,000.

Voter turnout was only 40.2% and no candidate collected more than half of the votes in the first round of the elections in the Balkan country.

Mustafa Karadayi, the head of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, the only candidate representing ethnic Turks and other Muslims, came third in the first round with 11.5% of the votes.

Over 6.6 million citizens were registered to vote at 13,200 polling stations in Bulgaria and 750 centers in 67 other countries.

Turkey, home to many dual Bulgarian nationals, had 58 polling stations for Sunday’s vote.