Elections in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Bulgaria
Constitution 1879 1947 1971 1991
Presidency President (list) Rosen Plevneliev Vice President Margarita Popova
Executive Legislative Government Prime Minister (list) Boyko Borisov National Assembly Speaker: Tsetska Tsacheva
Law Judiciary Nationality law Human rights Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Administrative Court Supreme Court of Cassation
Major political parties GERB Bulgarian Socialist Party DPS Reformist Bloc Patriotic Front Bulgaria Without Censorship Attack
Recent elections Presidential 2006 2011 2016 Parliamentary 2009 2013 2014
Administrative divisions Provinces (oblasti) Municipalities (obshtini)
Foreign relations 2007 EU enlargement Kristalina Georgieva
Other countries Atlas

Bulgaria elects on 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 no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each to form governments.

National legislatures

Legislatures	Term	Seats
Constituent Assembly	10.02.1879-16.04.1879	231
1 Grand National Assembly	17.04.1879-26.06.1879	231
1 Ordinary National Assembly	21.10.1879-24.11.1879	158
2 Ordinary National Assembly	23.03.1880-18.12.1880	172
2 Grand National Assembly	01.07.1881	307
3 Ordinary National Assembly	10.12.1882-25.12.1883	47
4 Ordinary National Assembly	27.06.1884-06.09.1886	195/286
3 Grand National Assembly	19.10.1886-03.08.1887	493
5 Ordinary National Assembly	15.10.1887-17.12.1889	285
6 Ordinary National Assembly	15.10.1890-15.12.1892	276
4 Grand National Assembly	03.05.1893-17.05.1893	577
7 Ordinary National Assembly	15.10.1893-21.12.1893	145
8 Ordinary National Assembly	15.10.1894-04.02.1896	149
9 Ordinary National Assembly	01.12.1896-19.12.1898	159
10 Ordinary National Assembly	16.05.1899-29.11.1900	169
11 Ordinary National Assembly	22.02.1901-23.12.1901	166
12 Ordinary National Assembly	22.04.1902-31.03.1903	188
13 Ordinary National Assembly	02.11.1903-22.12.1907	189
14 Ordinary National Assembly	15.06.1908-15.02.1911	203
5 Grand National Assembly	09.06.1911-09.07.1911	414
15 Ordinary National Assembly	15.10.1911-23.07.1913	213
16 Ordinary National Assembly	19.12.1913-31.12.1913	204
17 Ordinary National Assembly	20.03.1914-15.04.1919	257
18 Ordinary National Assembly	02.10.1919-20.02.1920	237
19 Ordinary National Assembly	15.04.1920-11.03.1923	232
20 Ordinary National Assembly	21.05.1923-11.06.1923	245
21 Ordinary National Assembly	09.12.1923-15.04.1927	267
22 Ordinary National Assembly	19.06.1927-18.04.1931	275
23 Ordinary National Assembly	20.08.1931-19.05.1934	283
24 Ordinary National Assembly	22.05.1938-27.04.1939	160
25 Ordinary National Assembly	24.02.1940-23.08.1944	160
26 Ordinary National Assembly	15.12.1945-28.09.1946	279
6 Grand National Assembly	07.11.1946-21.10.1949	465(375)
1(27) National Assembly	17.01.1950-02.11.1953	239
2(28) National Assembly	14.01.1954-11.12.1957	249
3(29) National Assembly	13.01.1958-04.11.1961	254
4(30) National Assembly	15.03.1962-08.12.1965	321
5(31) National Assembly	11.03.1966-18.05.1971	416
6(32) National Assembly	07.07.1971-09.03.1976	400
7(33) National Assembly	15.06.1976-07.04.1981	400
8(34) National Assembly	16.06.1981-21.03.1986	400
9(35) National Assembly	17.06.1986-03.04.1990	400
7 Grand National Assembly	10.07.1990-02.10.1991	400
36 National Assembly	04.11.1991-17.10.1994	240
37 National Assembly	12.01.1995-13.02.1997	240
38 National Assembly	07.05.1997-19.04.2001	240
39 National Assembly	05.07.2001-17.06.2005	240
40 National Assembly	11.07.2005- 27.06.2009	240
41 National Assembly	14.07.2009–14.03.2013	240
42 National Assembly	21.05.2013-06.08.2014	240
43 National Assembly	27.10.2014-Present	240

Parliamentary elections

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 1990 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.

Recent elections

Parliamentary election 2014, votes by provinces
GERB
BSP
MRF
RB
PF
BWC
Аttack
АBR

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
GERB	1,072,491	32.67	84	–13
BSP - Left Bulgaria	505,527	15.40	39	–45
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	487,134	14.84	38	+2
Reformist Bloc	291,806	8.89	23	+23
Patriotic Front	239,101	7.28	19	+19
Bulgaria without Censorship	186,938	5.69	15	New
Attack	148,262	4.52	11	–12
Alternative for Bulgarian Revival	136,223	4.15	11	New
Movement 21	39,221	1.20	0	New
People's Voice	37,335	1.14	0	0
The Greens	19,990	0.61	0	0
Republic BG	18,901	0.58	0	New
New Bulgaria	12,628	0.39	0	New
New Alternative	11 583	0.35	0	0
United Bulgaria	10,831	0.33	0	New
Bulgarian Social Democracy	9,431	0.29	0	New
National Movement for Stability and Progress	7,917	0.24	0	New
Party of the Greens	7,456	0.23	0	New
The Rights	7,234	0.22	0	New
Left and the Green Party	7,010	0.21	0	New
New Democracy	5,559	0.17	0	New
New Force	5,553	0.17	0	New
Social Democratic Party	5,398	0.16	0	0
Community for New Bulgaria	4,615	0.14	0	New
New Time	3,836	0.12	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	218,125	–	–	–
Total	3,501,269	100	240	0
Registered voters/turnout	6,858,304	51.05	–	–
Source: CIK

Distribution of votes by constituency, 2013 election

**Summary of the 2013 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:**
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	GERB	1,081,605	30.54	-9.16	97	−20
	Coalition for Bulgaria	942,541	26.61	+8.91	84	+44
	Movement for Rights and Freedoms	400,466	11.31	-2.69	36	-1
	Attack	258,481	7.30	-2.10	23	+2
	National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria	131,169	3.70	new	0	new
	Bulgaria for Citizens Movement	115,190	3.25	new	0	new
	Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria	103,638	2.93	—	0	-5
	IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement	66,803	1.89	new	0	new
	Lider	61,482	1.74	-1.56	0	0
	Order, Law and Justice	59,145	1.67	-2.43	0	-10
	Center–Freedom and Dignity	57,611	1.63	new	0	new
	Union of Democratic Forces	48,681	1.38	—	0	-9
	Others	124,886	—	—	0	—
Invalid votes		90,047	—	—	—	—
Votes cast (turnout: %)		3,541,745	51.33	—	—	—
Registered voters		6,919,260	—	—	—	—
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria

Distribution of votes by constituency, 2009 election

**Summary of the 2009 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:**
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	GERB	1,678,583	39.7	new	117	new
	Coalition for Bulgaria	748,114	17.7	−13.3	40	−42
	Movement for Rights and Freedoms	592,381	14.0	+1.2	38	+3
	Attack	395,707	9.4	+1.3	21	±0
	Blue Coalition	285,671	6.8	−7.3	15	−22
	Order, Law and Justice	174,570	4.1	new	10	new
	Lider	137,795	3.3	new	—	—
	National Movement for Stability and Progress	127,470	3.0	−16.9	—	−53
	The Greens	21,841	0.5	new	—	—
	For the Homeland	11,524	0.3	—	—	—
	Bulgarian Left Coalition	8,762	0.2	—	—	—
	Union of the Patriotic Forces	6,426	0.2	—	—	—
	Social Democrats	5,004	0.1	—	—	—
	Bulgarian New Democracy	3,813	0.1	—	—	—
	The Other Bulgaria	3,455	0.1	—	—	—
	Party of the Liberal Alternative and Peace	2,828	0.1	—	—	—
	Union of the Bulgarian Patriots	2,175	0.1	—	—	—
	National Movement for the Salvation of the Fatherland	1,874	0.0	—	—	—
Total valid votes		4,226,194	100.00	—	240	—
Invalid votes		97,387	2.25	—	—	—
Votes cast (turnout: 60.20%)		4,323,581	100.00	—	—	—
Registred voters		7,129,965	—	—	—	—
Source: Bulgarian Parliament Electoral Commission of Bulgaria

Distribution of votes by constituency, 2005 election

**Summary of the 2005 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:**
Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Coalition for Bulgaria	1,129,196	31.0	82	+34
	National Movement Simeon II	725,314	19.9	53	−67
	Movement for Rights and Freedoms	467,400	12.8	34	+13
	National Union Attack	296,848	8.1	21	+21
	United Democratic Forces	280,323	7.7	20	−31
	Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria	234,788	6.4	17	+17
	People's Union	189,268	5.2	13	+13
	Others	324,050	8.8	0	-
	Total valid votes	3,648,177	100.0	240	-
Invalid votes		99,616
Votes cast (turnout: 55.8%)		3,747,793
Registered voters in the main list		6,720,941
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria and Adam Carr's Electoral Archive

Summary of the 2001 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:

Party	Votes	Seats
National Movement Simeon II	1,952,513	120
United Democratic Forces	830,338	51
Coalition for Bulgaria	783,372	48
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	340,395	21
Others
Total	4,608,135 (67.0%)	240

Summary of the 1997 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:

Party	Votes	Seats
United Democratic Forces	2,223,714	137
Coalition for Bulgaria	939,308	58
Union for National Salvation	323,429	19
Bulgarian Euroleft	234,058	14
Bulgarian Business Block	209,796	12
Others
Total	4,291,257 (62.9%)	240

Summary of the 1994 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:

Party	Votes	Seats
Coalition for Bulgaria	2,262,943	125
Union of Democratic Forces	1,260,374	69
People's Union	338,478	18
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	283,094	15
Bulgarian Business Block	245,849	13
Others
Total	5,264,448 (75.3%)	240

Summary of the 1991 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:

Party	Votes	Seats
Union of Democratic Forces	1,903,567	110
Coalition for Bulgaria	1,836,050	106
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	418,168	24
Others
Total	5,694,764 (83.9%)	240

Summary of the 1990 National Assembly of Bulgaria election results:

Party	Votes	Seats
Bulgarian Socialist Party	2,886,363	211
Union of Democratic Forces	2,216,127	144
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union	491,597	16
Movement for Rights and Freedoms	368,929	24
Alternative Socialist Parties	121,514	2
Patriotic Party of Labour	36,668	2
Others
Total	6,333,334 (90.3%)	400

Presidential election

Main articles: Bulgarian presidential election, 1992; Bulgarian presidential election, 1996; Bulgarian presidential election, 2001; Bulgarian presidential election, 2006; Bulgarian presidential election, 2011; and Bulgarian presidential election, 2016

Presidential elections are held since 1992. The last were held in 2016.

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Rumen Radev	Independent	973,754	25.44
Tsetska Tsacheva	GERB	840,635	21.96
Krasimir Karakachanov	United Patriots	573,016	14.97
Veselin Mareshki	Independent	427,660	11.17
Plamen Oresharski	Independent	253,726	6.63
Traycho Traykov	Reformist Bloc	224,734	5.87
Ivailo Kalfin	Alternative for Bulgarian Revival	125,531	3.28
Tatyana Doncheva	Movement 21–NDSV	69,372	1.81
George Ganchev	Christian Social Union	27,928	0.73
Velizar Enchev	Movement for Radical Change Bulgarian Spring	18,213	0.48
Dimiter Marinov	Bulgarian National Unification	14,974	0.39
Rumen Galabinov	Independent	10,286	0.27
Plamen Paskov	Independent	10,103	0.26
Aleksandar Tomov	Bulgarian Socialdemocratic-Euroleft	9,513	0.25
Gospodin Tonev	Bulgarian Democratic Community	6,855	0.18
Kemil Ramadan	Balkanic Democratic League	6,089	0.16
Kamen Popov	Independent	5,212	0.14
Diana Dimitrova	Independent	4,362	0.11
Nikolay Banev	Independent	4,196	0.11
Yordanka Koleva	Independent	4,182	0.11
Biser Milanov	Independent	3,215	0.08
None of the above		214,094	5.59
Invalid/blank votes		119,925	–		–
Total		3,947,629	100
Registered voters/turnout		7,014,723	57.47
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria

**Summary of the 2011 Bulgarian presidential election results:**
Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Rosen Plevneliev	GERB	1,349,380	40.11	1,698,136	52.58
Ivaylo Kalfin	Bulgarian Socialist Party	974,300	28.96	1,531,193	47.42
Meglena Kuneva	Initiative committee	470,808	14.00
Volen Siderov	Attack	122,466	3.64
Stefan Solakov	National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria	84,205	2.50
Rumen Hristov	Union of Democratic Forces	65,761	1.95
Atanas Semov	Order, Law and Justice	61,797	1.84
Svetoslav Vitkov	Initiative committee	54,125	1.61
Sali Ibrayim	National Movement Unity	41,837	1.24
Krasimir Karakachanov	IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement	33,236	0.99
Aleksey Petrov	Initiative committee	31,613	0.94
Maria Kapon	United People's Party	30,665	0.91
Nikolay Nenchev	Bulgarian Agrarian National Union	9,827	0.29
Pavel Chernev	Party for the People of the Nation	8,081	0.24
Ventsislav Yosifov	Initiative committee	7,021	0.21
Dimitar Kutsarov	Initiative committee	6,989	0.21
Andrey Chorbanov	Bulgarian Democratic Unity	6,340	0.19
Nikolay Vasilev	Initiative committee	5,633	0.17
Total valid votes		3,364,084	100	3,229,329	100
Invalid/blank votes		229,844	6.40	104,837	3.14
Votes cast		3,593,928	100	3,334,166	100
Registered voters/turnout		6,873,589	52.29	6,910,491	48.25
Source: Electoral Commission of Bulgaria

**Summary of the 2006 Bulgarian presidential election results:**
Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Georgi Parvanov	Bulgarian Socialist Party	1,780,119	64.047%	2,050,488	75.948%
Volen Siderov	Attack	597,175	21.486%	649,387	24.052%
Nedelcho Beronov	Union of Democratic Forces	271,078	9.753%
Georgi Markov	Order, Law and Justice	75,478	2.716%
Petar Beron	Initiative committee	21,812	0.785%
Grigor Velev	Аll in one Bulgaria	19,857	0.714%
Lyuben Petrov	Initiative committee	13,854	0.498%
Total / turnout		2,856,734 (44.3%)	100.000%	2,757,441 (42.8%)	100.000%

**Summary of the 2001 Bulgarian presidential election results:**
Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Georgi Parvanov	Bulgarian Socialist Party	1,032,665	36.4%	2,043,443	54.1%
Petar Stoyanov	Union of Democratic Forces	991,680	34.9%	1,731,676	45.9%
Bogomil Bonev	Citizens' Party of Bulgaria	546,801	19.3%
Reneta Indzhova	Democratic Alliance	139,680	4.9%
George Ganchev	Bulgarian Business Block	95,481	3.4%
Petar Beron	Union for Bulgaria	31,394	1.1%
Total valid votes / turnout		2,850,297 (41.6%)	100.0%	3,784,036 (54.9%)	100.0%
Source: President of Bulgaria and Demetra/BAN

Summary of the 1996 Bulgarian presidential election results:

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Petar Stoyanov	Union of Democratic Forces	1,889,825	44.1	2,502,517	59.7
Ivan Marazov	Bulgarian Socialist Party	1,158,204	27.0	1,687,242	40.3
George Ganchev	Bulgarian Business Bloc	937,686	21.9
Aleksander Tomov	Independent	135,571	3.2
Hristo Boychev	Movement for the Protection of Retired, Unemployed and Poor People	57,668	1.3
Vera Ilieva	Bulgarian Communist Party	34,004	0.8
Slavomir Tsankov	Union of Democratic Forces and Movements "Era 3"	22,724	0.5
Ivan Stoyanov	Democratic Party in Bulgaria	14,659	0.3
Mincho Minchev	Patriotic Party of Labour	13,567	0.3
Mitko Dimitrov	Alliance for the Preservation of Bulgaria's Wealth	7,793	0.2
Lyubomir Stefanov	Alternative Socialist Alliance	6,056	0.1
Dimitar Markovski	Free Cooperative Party	5,823	0.1
Iliyan Nikolov	Bulgarian National Ecological Party Veliko Tarnovo	4,920	0.1
Invalid/blank votes		28,662	–	25,412	–
Total		4,317,161 (63.3%)	100	4,215,145 (61.8%)	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, University of Essex

Summary of the 1992 Bulgarian presidential election results:

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
Zhelyu Zhelev	Union of Democratic Forces	2,261,913	44.4	2,738,436	52.8
Velko Valkanov	Bulgarian Socialist Party	1,546,843	30.4	2,443,435	47.2
George Ganchev	Bulgarian Business Bloc	853,044	16.8
Blagovest Sendov-Ognyan Saparev	Independent	113,897	2.2
Other candidates		315,482	6.2
Invalid/blank votes		48,712	–	24,382	–
Total		5,139,891 (75.4%)	100	5,206,253 (75.2%)	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

European Parliament elections

Main article: European Parliament elections in Bulgaria

Referendums

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;^[1]
On 8 September 1946 the question was if Bulgaria was to remain a monarchy to become a republic;^[2]
On 16 May 1971 the nation's approval of a new constitution was asked;^[3]
On 27 January 2013 the question was if Bulgaria should develop its nuclear power by building a new nuclear power plant.^[4]^[5]
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.

References

↑ Bulgarien, 19. November 1922 : Anklage gegen Kriegsverbrecher Direct Democracy
↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p368
↑ Q&A: Bulgaria's nuclear energy referendum BBC News, 25 January 2013
↑ Bulgarians vote in referendum on nuclear energy Deutsche Welle

External links

Blog in English about the Bulgarian elections in 2009
Adam Carr's Election Archive
Ms Lyubka Savkova's Bulgarian Party Politics and Public Opinion Research Website hosted by the University of Sussex
Parties and Elections
Народно събрание на Република България/National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria
Bulgarian News Agency
Blog in English about the Bulgarian elections in 2009
NSD: European Election Database - Bulgaria publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2009

Elections in Bulgaria

Parliamentary elections	1879 (Jan) 1879 (Sep-Oct) 1880 1881 (Jan) 1881 (Jun) 1882 1884 1886 1887 1890 1893 (Apr) 1893 (Jul) 1894 1896 1899 1901 1902 1903 1908 1911 (Jun) 1911 (Sep) 1913 1914 1919 1920 1923 (Apr) 1923 (Nov) 1927 1931 1938 1939 1945 1946 1949 1953 1957 1962 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 1991 1994 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2014 next

Presidential elections	1992 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016

Local elections	2015

European elections	2007 2009 2014

Elections in Eastern Rumelia	1879 1884

Referendums	1922 1946 1971 2013 2015 2016

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