Republic of Bulgaria: President, 6 November 2016

At stake in this election:

• The office of the President of the Bulgaria

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Rosen PLEVNELIEV (since 22 January 2012)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Boyko BORISOV (since 7 November 2014)
• Assembly: Bulgaria has a unicameral Narodno Sabranie (National Assembly) composed of 240 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The president of Bulgaria is elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term.

Last Election:

• Voting for the last presidential election was held in two rounds on 23 October 2011 and 30 October 2011. In the first round, Rosen PLEVNELIEV and Ivaylo Georgiev KALFIN were the two leading candidates, receiving 40.11% and 28.96% of the vote, respectively. In the second round, PLEVNELIEV defeated KALFIN with 52.58% of the vote.

Main candidates in the election:[1]

• Tsetska TSACHEVA
  • Party: Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB)/Graždani za Evropejsko Razvitie na Bǎlgarija
• Roumen RADEV
  • Party: Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)/Bulgarska Sotsialisticheska Partiya[2]
• Krasimir KARAKACHANOV
  • Party: Patriotic Front Coalition/Патриотичен фронт
• Tatyana DONCHEVA
  • Party: Movement 21/National Movement for Stability and Progress of Movement 21
• Traicho TRAIKOV
  • Party: Reformist Bloc/Реформаторски блок
• Ivailo KALFIN
  • Party: Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV)/Alternativa za Balgarsko Vazrazhdane
• Vesselin MARESHKI
  • Party: Independent
• Plamen ORESHARSKI
  • Party: Independent
• George GANCHEV
  • Party: Independent
• Velizar ENCHEV
  • Party: Independent

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 7,186,893 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 6,858,304 (2014)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,677,429 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CEDAW: Yes (8 February 1982)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 48 (20%)

·         Human Development Index Position: 59

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (27 September 2007)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CRPD: Yes (22 March 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 1,078,034 (est.)