site.btaSocialist-Backed Radev Ahead of GERB's Tsacheva in First Round of Presidential Elections - Parallel Counts

Socialist-Backed Radev Ahead of GERB's Tsacheva in First Round of Presidential Elections - Parallel Counts

Sofia, November 7 (BTA) - Socialist-backed presidential candidate Rumen Radev is ahead of GERB's candidate Tsetska Tsacheva by 1 to 3 percentage points after the first round of Bulgaria's presidential elections, show polling agencies' parallel vote counts reported by the electronic media on Sunday evening.

According to a parallel vote count of 95 per cent of a tally sheets sample, conducted by Alpha Research and presented on National Television, Radev received 25 per cent of the votes, compared to 22.1 per cent for Tsacheva.

United Patriots' candidate Krassimir Karakachanov was third on 14.9 per cent of the votes, followed by independent candidate and businessman Vesselin Mareshki with 10.9 per cent. The Reformist Bloc's Traicho Traikov got 6 per cent, trailing Plamen Oresharski (an independent candidate supported by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party), who was supported by 7.1 per cent. Next in line are ABV's candidate Ivailo Kalfin with 3.5 per cent and Tatyana Doncheva (of a coalition between Movement 21 and the National Movement for Upsurge and Stability) with 1.9 per cent. Five per cent of voters opted to not support any of the candidates.

Radev received 24.9 per cent of the votes, according to a Gallup parallel vote count of 100 per cent of the sample, reported on National Television. Tsacheva came in second on 22 per cent, followed by Karakachanov, 15.4 per cent, Mareshki, 11.7 per cent, Traikov, 6.1 per cent, Oresharski, 6 per cent, Kalfin, 3.2 per cent, and Doncheva, 1.8 per cent.

Gallup's parallel vote count set Sunday's presidential election turnout at a record 56.3 per cent of eligible voters.

According to a Market Links parallel count of 79 per cent of the sample, announced on bTV, Rumen Radev got 24.2 per cent, compared to 23.42 per cent for Tsacheva. Karakachanov ranks third on 14.6 per cent, followed by Mareshki, 9.9 per cent, Oresharski, 6.6 per cent, and Traikov, 6.5 per cent. A total of 5.6 per cent of voters marked the "None Of The Above" box on their ballots.

Market Links' voter turnout for the first round was 56.8 per cent, the agency's parallel count showed.

Around 85 per cent of the Bulgarian Socialist Party's supporters voted for Rumen Radev, sociologist Boryana Dimitrova of Alpha Research told Nova Television, citing an exit poll. She specified that Radev also managed to attract votes from other Left-wing candidates, such as Kalfin and Doncheva.

Over 90 per cent of Tsacheva's support came from GERB, Dimitrova pointed out, adding that GERB's candidate barely attracted any votes from other Right-wing candidates.

In Sofia, Radev received 25 per cent of the votes, compared to 24 per cent for Tsacheva, she said. Incumbent President Rosen Plevneliev (who was nominated by GERB) received 47 per cent of the votes from Sofia in the 2011 presidential elections, the sociologist recalled.

According to a Market Links survey, quoted by bTV, 38.6 per cent of those who voted for Radev were university graduates, compared to 37.2 per cent of Tsacheva's supporters, and 63.5 per cent of those who voted for the Reformist Bloc's Traikov.

Of those who voted for Oresharski, 47.4 per cent had primary education or less, while 11.2 per cent had higher education. Forty-seven per cent of Oresharski's supporters identify themselves as ethnic Turks and 11 per cent as Roma, the survey found.

A total of 87,514 Bulgarian citizens voted abroad by 10:00 p.m. Bulgarian time, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on its Facebook page. The polls have closed in most voting sections abroad.

The largest number exercised their franchise in Turkey, 27,909, followed by the UK, 15,285, France, 3,620, Germany, 3,167, Austria, 3,422, and Greece, 2,588.