In brief
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev asserted that the November 1 presidential election in Bulgaria was not affected by vote‑buying, citing police actions that led to over 500 reports and ten arrests and the deployment of more than 10,000 officers. Presidential candidate Andrey Gurov accepted the election results and called on citizens to hold the state accountable, whereas vice‑presidential candidate Georgi Kandev warned that political battles remain in place as the country moves forward. "
On Sunday, November 1, 2026, Bulgarian authorities announced that the presidential election held that day was conducted without influence from vote‑buying, according to Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev. The minister delivered the statement in a briefing at the Ministry of the Interior, emphasising the role of police interventions in safeguarding the voting process.
Minister Demerdzhiev detailed that law‑enforcement bodies received more than 500 reports of alleged electoral misconduct during the campaign period. Within the same timeframe, ten individuals were arrested, and a total of over 10,000 officers were deployed to guard polling stations, especially in locations identified as high‑risk. The minister argued that these measures were sufficient to neutralise attempts to alter the electoral outcome.
He added,
So we can confidently state that the result now being recorded in the election documents has not been influenced in any way by these unscrupulous practices.
"I think we rose to every challenge," the minister said, acknowledging the prevention of organized violations and noting that the crackdown was ongoing, implying that the list of arrests could increase. Attending the briefing, Acting Chief Secretary Lyubomir Nikolov echoed this sentiment, noting the readiness of police units to maintain the integrity of all polling stations. Nikolov highlighted that they had identified potential schemes such as voters secretly marking numbers on their palms and subsequent investigations were under way.
Mirroring the confirmation of a clean process, presidential candidate Andrey Gurov addressed the media in Sofia later in the evening, expressing acceptance of the official results despite his ticket’s loss. Gurov stated that the campaign was finished but the responsibilities were far from over. He urged citizens to keep the state accountable since he believed the government should serve the populace “not for itself.”
He also thanked families, party supporters, and the public for exercising their voting rights, and urged voters to assess whether campaign promises would be kept in practice.
Vice‑presidential candidate Georgi Kandev, standing beside Gurov, took a slightly different tack, emphasizing that the political battle was not over. In a statement to reporters, Kandev highlighted the extensive campaign travels and meetings across the country and the varied hopes and challenges expressed by citizens. He stressed continuous vigilance, saying,
I want to call on the Bulgarian people to remain vigilant as to whether all the promises made to them are kept, and to uphold the law and hold those promises to account.
The parallel perspectives from the ruling interior ministry and the opposition campaign illustrate differing narratives surrounding the 2026 presidential election. While the ministry portrays a robust anti‑vote‑buying operation that secured a legitimate outcome, the losing ticket stresses ongoing accountability and the need for vigilance to ensure that electoral promises translate into tangible governance.
As the country moves forward, observers will likely watch how the police’s post‑election activities influence future local and national contests, particularly mayoral elections that the ministry flagged as potentially more challenging.
