Bulgaria's acting president Iliana Iotova has won the presidential runoff election, near-final results from the Central Election Commission showed on Monday, becoming the country's first elected female head of state.

With 99.95 per cent of precinct protocols processed, the Iotova-Kiril Valchev ticket had won 57.58 per cent of the vote, or about 1.1 million ballots, while opponents Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received 39.47 per cent, or about 749,500 votes. About 2.95 per cent of voters chose the I support no one option.

From first round to runoff

The runoff followed a first round on 25 October in which no candidate secured the majority needed for outright victory. Iotova and Valchev led with 34.6 per cent, ahead of Gyurov and Kandev on 32 per cent, and advanced to Sunday's second round. Turnout was reported as low, though no final turnout figure was given in the results reporting.

Acting president to elected president

Iotova, formerly vice-president, became acting president in January after Radev resigned to enter the parliamentary race. Reuters noted that Radev supports Iotova and that both have called for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine. The result still rests on near-final figures, with a small share of precinct protocols outstanding at the time of reporting.

Sources: Reuters via Sowetan; Reuters syndication via multiple US outlets.