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Elections in Bulgaria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bulgaria elects on the national level a head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term directly by the people. The National Assembly (Narodno Sabranie) has 240 members elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies with a 4% threshold. Bulgaria has a multi-party system in which often no party receives a required majority and parties must collaborate to form governments, generally via confidence and supply or coalition agreements.

Parliamentary elections

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Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 2 April 2023 to elect the members of the National Assembly. Parliamentary elections have been held in Bulgaria since 1879. There was a period when partisan politics was banned from 1934 to 1944; in the wake of the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934 and the sequential personal rule of Tsar Boris III. There was also period of single party system between 1945 and 1989, during the People's Republic of Bulgaria, during which only candidates sanctioned by authorities could run. This, in practice, gave the Bulgarian Communist Party and its collaborators a monopoly on power.

Until 1945 there was no universal suffrage for the women. The table below show the elections since 1990, when the government became a democratic republic.

All elections since 1991 have had 240 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies with a 4% threshold. The two elections that differed from this model was the 1990 Grand National Assembly election, where 400 representatives were elected: half by proportional representation and half by first-past-the-post voting. The other exception was the 2009 election when 209 representatives were elected by proportional representation and 31 through first past the post; seats corresponding to the provinces and the largest cities.

Parliamentary election results

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Turnout
1986 1990 1991 1994 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2014 2017 April 2021 July 2021 Nov 2021 2022 2023 2024
99.92% 90.78% 83.87% 75.23% 58.87% 66.63% 55.76% 60.64% 52.47% 49.51% 52.57% 49.1% 40.39% 38.64 39.30% 40.63% 33.4%

Recent elections

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Results of the 2024 Bulgarian parliamentary elections, with distribution of seats by electoral district.

The results showed that no party attained a majority in the National Assembly, with GERB attaining a plurality of seats. Turnout was 33 percent, the lowest since the end of communist rule in 1989.[1][2]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
GERB–SDS530,65823.9968−1
Movement for Rights and Freedoms366,31016.5647+11
We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria307,84913.9239−25
Revival295,91513.3838+1
BSP for Bulgaria151,5606.8519−4
There is Such a People128,0075.7916+5
Greatness99,8624.5213New
Morality, Unity, Honour63,9922.890New
Blue Bulgaria33,6131.520New
Solidary Bulgaria31,4761.420New
Center25,6641.160New
VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement21,2720.9600
The Left!15,1750.6900
Bulgarian Rise12,3220.5600
Green Movement9,3240.4200
People's Voice6,5600.3000
We Are Coming5,9390.270New
Party of the Greens [bg]5,4940.2500
Direct democracy [bg]5,2070.2400
Unification5,2060.240New
We the Citizens4,6620.210New
Bulgarian Voice3,3780.150New
Citizens Bloc3,0030.140New
People's Party "Truth and Only the Truth" [bg]2,4830.1100
Neutral Bulgaria2,4620.1100
Rose Coalition2,2060.100New
Society for a New Bulgaria [bg]2,2490.1000
Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy2,1280.1000
For a Great Bulgaria1,8930.090New
Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy [bg]9460.0400
Bulgarian National Unification9200.0400
None of the above63,9132.89
Total2,211,648100.002400
Valid votes2,211,64897.42
Invalid/blank votes58,4962.58
Total votes2,270,144100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,797,69833.40
Source: Central Electoral Commission

Presidential election

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Presidential elections have been held since 1992. From 1996 onwards, presidential elections have been held every five years.

CandidateRunning matePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Rumen RadevIliana IotovaIndependent (BSPzB, PP, ITN, IBG-NI)1,322,38549.421,539,65066.72
Anastas GerdzhikovNevyana MitevaIndependent (GERBSDS)610,86222.83733,79131.80
Mustafa KaradayiIskra MihaylovaMovement for Rights and Freedoms309,68111.57
Kostadin KostadinovElena GunchevaRevival104,8323.92
Lozan PanovMaria KasimovaIndependent (Democratic Bulgaria)98,4883.68
Luna YordanovaIglena IlievaIndependent21,7330.81
Volen SiderovMagdalena TashevaAttack14,7920.55
Svetoslav VitkovVeselin BelokonskiPeople's Voice13,9720.52
Milen MihovMariya TsvetkovaVMRO – Bulgarian National Movement13,3760.50
Rosen MilenovIvan IvanovIndependent12,6440.47
Goran BlagoevIvelina GeorgievaRepublicans for Bulgaria12,3230.46
Veselin MareshkiPolina TsankovaVolya Movement10,5360.39
Valeri SimeonovTsvetan ManchevPatriotic Front8,5680.32
Nikolay MalinovSvetlana KosevaRussophiles for the Revival of the Fatherland8,2130.31
Tsveta KirilovaGeorgi TutanovIndependent7,7060.29
Aleksandar TomovLachezar AvramovBulgarian Social Democratic PartyEuroLeft7,2350.27
Boyan RasateElena VatashkaBulgarian National Union – New Democracy6,7980.25
Marina MalchevaSavina LukanovaIndependent6,3150.24
Zhelyo ZhelevKalin KrulevSociety for a New Bulgaria6,1540.23
Blagoy PetrevskiSevina HadjiyskaBulgarian Union for Direct Democracy5,5180.21
Yolo DenevMario FilevIndependent5,3940.20
Maria KolevaGancho PopovPravoto4,6660.17
Georgi Georgiev-GotiStoyan TsvetkovBulgarian National Unification2,9580.11
None of the above60,7862.2734,1691.48
Total2,675,935100.002,307,610100.00
Valid votes2,675,93599.652,307,61099.83
Invalid/blank votes9,4870.353,9090.17
Total votes2,685,422100.002,311,519100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,949,93838.646,868,73733.65
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria (first round), Electoral Commission of Bulgaria (second round)

European Parliament elections

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Past European Parliament elections since 2007

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Referendums

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Four nationwide referendums have been held in Bulgaria since it gained its De Facto independence in 1878:

  • On 19 November 1922 the question was if criminals from the three previous wars were to be prosecuted;[3]
  • On 8 September 1946 the question was if Bulgaria was to remain a monarchy to become a republic;[4]
  • On 16 May 1971 the nation's approval of a new constitution was asked;[5]
  • On 27 January 2013 the question was if Bulgaria should develop its nuclear power by building a new nuclear power plant.[6][7]
  • On 25 October 2015 the question was if Bulgaria should introduce electronic voting.
  • On 6 November 2016 voters were asked three questions. The questions were: Whether they supported limiting public funding of political parties; the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and referendums; and changing the electoral system for the National Assembly to the two-round system.

Several regional referendums have been held as well.

Local elections

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Recent elections

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kobeszko, Łukasz (2024-06-13). "Snap election in Bulgaria: a worsening political crisis and a strengthening radical right". Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich (Centre for Eastern Studies).
  2. ^ "Bulgarian election delivers another fragmented parliament". Al Jazeera. 10 June 2024. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  3. ^ Bulgarien, 19. November 1922 : Anklage gegen Kriegsverbrecher Direct Democracy
  4. ^ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  5. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p368
  6. ^ Q&A: Bulgaria's nuclear energy referendum BBC News, 25 January 2013
  7. ^ Bulgarians vote in referendum on nuclear energy Deutsche Welle
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