Bulgarian Presidential Election Turnout Reaches 10% in First 3 Hours

The voter turnout in the Bulgarian presidential election is estimated at 10 percent over the first three hours of voting, a local research agency said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On November 6, the elections of the country’s president and vice president are taking place in Bulgaria, alongside with the national referendum on the issue of electoral legislation.

The turnout at the national referendum is a bit lower, estimated at 8.5 percent, according to the Alpha research agency.

The Bulgarian central electoral commission registered 21 candidates for the posts of the president and the vice president. The main candidates for the post of the country’s leaders are Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva from the GERB ruling party and a former Bulgarian Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Rumen Radev, nominated by an initiative committee of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

According to the country's Constitution, the candidate for presidency should gain over 50 percent of votes, if over a half of the voters turn out to vote. In case none of the candidates gain the necessary amount of votes, the second round of elections will be held in seven days.