According to data from all sociological agencies in Sofia, Vasil Terziev leads. The big battle is for the second place between Vanya Grigorova from Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) - United Left and Anton Hekimyan from GERB-SDS.
From the regional cities, according to preliminary data, GERB-SDS won Burgas, Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Kyustendil, Pernik in the first round.
In Plovdiv, Varna and Veliko Tarnovo, the GERB-SDS candidates Kostadin Dimitrov, Ivan Portnih and Daniel Panov lead convincingly, and in Ruse - the BSP candidate and current mayor Pencho Milkov.
The data from the exit poll for mayor of Sofia:
"Trend": Vasil Terziev - 38.8%, Vanya Grigorova - 19.3%, Anton Hekimyan from 17.1%.
"Alfa Research": Vasil Terziev - 37%, Vanya Grigorova - 20.7%, Anton Hekimyan - 18.9%
Gallup: Vasil Terziev - 38.8%, Vanya Grigorova - 19%, Anton Hekimyan - 16.9%
The data from the exit poll for SOS:
"Trend": PP-DB - 40.5%, , GERB-SDS - 19.5%, BSP - 13%, "Revival" - 9.8%
"Alfa Research": PP-DB with 39.4%, GERB - 20.5%, BSP - 13.4%
Gallup: PP-DB with 40.6%, GERB – 19.2%, BSP – 12.7%
Trend data for the country:
In Plovdiv, GERB-SDS candidate Kostadin Dimitrov collected 33.7% of the votes, and second was Ivaylo Staribratov from PP-DB with 22.2%.
In Varna, Ivan Portnih from GERB was supported by 28.5% of the voters, and Blagomir Kotsev from PP-DB - by 26.6%.
In Pencho, Milkov from "BSP for Bulgaria" received 33.7%, Ivan Ivanov from GERB - 17.3%.
Gallup data for the country:
In Plovdiv, Kostadin Dimitrov from GERB won 32.1% of the votes. Second is Ivaylo Staribratov from PP-DB with 22.4%.
In Varna, Ivan Portnih from GERB was supported by 27.1% of the voters, and Blagomir Kotsev from PP-DB - by 26.7%.
In Blagoevgrad, the independent candidate Ilko Stoyanov gathered 27.1% support, and the PP-DB nominated Metodi Baikushev – 24.6%.
Terziev continues the fight for all Sofians
I continue the fight to be the mayor of all Sofians. This was stated by the PP-DB mayoral candidate Vasil Terziev, a BGNES reporter reported.
Terziev thanked all the citizens of Sofia who came out to vote today and especially those who supported him. According to the data from all exit polls, he leads the race with over 38% of the votes of the people of Sofia.
"I want to thank all Sofia residents who voted for a different Sofia. The one we dream of, the one we talk about, to be run by people who love it, to become a European, clean, orderly, green city, where there are no second-hand people, where there are no second-hand neighborhoods," he said.
Terziev stated that his team was "on the ground for 4 months", which did not happen in this type of campaign. "People had the opportunity to get to know us and our team, our ideas for the city. A positive campaign - we said that we are working for Sofia and looking for solutions for the people of Sofia, we are not positioning ourselves against any candidate," he said and emphasized: "I continue the fight to be the mayor of all the people of Sofia."
The leader of the list for municipal councilors of PP-DB-Spasi Sofia Boris Bonev stated that "the support they received will allow them to form a majority in the Municipal Council". "This is extremely important so that we can have a very successful mandate," he added.
Bonev has no doubts that "Vasil will be the next mayor of Sofia". "It is important for us that Sofia is not the same as of today. Starting today, Sofia opens a new page in its history. I have no doubt that this page will be more successful and more open to the future," said Bonev.
Grigorova put the problems to the little man
"We put the problems of the little man at the center of the campaign. They are an unavoidable factor". This was stated by Vanya Grigorova, the BSP and United Left mayoral candidate, at a press conference immediately after the end of the election day, a BGNES reporter reported.
According to the exit polls of sociological agencies, Grigorova is one step away from going to the runoff. "We are looking for support from everyone who recognizes our causes. All those who believe that the budget of the Metropolitan Municipality should serve the interests of the majority. We are continuing the meetings with the people in places, our conversation has always been with the people in places,” she said.
"For us, the campaign was successful. The results are visible." This was stated by Ivan Takov from BSP.
Kostadin Paskalev from BSP also congratulated Vanya Grigorova's results.
Voter turnout in the country as of 7 p.m. was 37%, according to Trend data. The highest voter turnout was in the Sofia village of Chelopech - 75.15%, and the lowest was in Dobrich - 23.18%.
The elections were held without serious violations. In some places the ballots had run out and new ballots had to be printed on a photocopier. The case of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Asen Vasilev, who failed to vote in Haskovo, is curious. The CEC explained that his current address is outside the country and he does not have electoral rights in Bulgaria.
Election day began at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m. To be elected mayor, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote of the voters in the respective settlement. If in the first round none of the candidates manages to gather the necessary support, there is a second round - the so-called runoff. Only the two contenders with the highest results from the first vote take part in it. The runoff takes place exactly one week after the first round - now the date is November 5. The local elections are held in two rounds, but the second is only for the mayoral lists and only if none of the candidates gathers the necessary support from more than 50% of the ballots cast. There is no runoff for the election of municipal councilors. The composition of the Municipal Council in the given settlement is finally elected on October 29. Elections for regional mayors are held only in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, as they are the only cities with regional divisions. /BGNES
