site.btaCentre for Analysis and Marketing: 46% of Sofia Residents Already Decided Who to Vote for in Local Elections

Centre for Analysis and Marketing data show that 46% of Sofia residents have already decided who to vote for in the upcoming local elections on October 29. The research was presented by Yuliy Pavlov, Director of the Centre for Analysis and Marketing, at a BTA-hosted press conference.

The survey was conducted in the period September 30 - October 3 among 1,003 adult citizens of Sofia using a standard face-to-face interview method.

Nearly 46% have decided who to vote for in the local elections, 10% said they will vote but have not decided who to support; 15.8% have not decided whether to vote, and about 28% say that they would rather not vote, explained Pavlov.

Asked about the mayoral elections in Sofia, the largest number of citizens would support Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria candidate Vasil Terziev (33.8%), followed by GERB-UDF candidate Anton Hekimyan (23.7%) and Bulgarian Socialist Party candidate Vanya Grigorova (13.8%). Vazrazhdane candidate Deyan Nikolov is in fourth place with 10.2% support, followed by Blue Sofia coalition candidate  Vili Lilkov with 4.6%. The "None Of the Above" voting option was preferred by 2.6% of respondents, and those who have not decided whether and for whom they will vote were 3.2%, according to the survey data.

In the event of a runoff, among the likely voters, 55.7% would vote for Vasil Terziev, and 40.3% for Anton Hekimyan. Those who are still undecided to vote were 6.7%, and those who said they will not vote were 12.1%, according to the survey data.

The political figure with the highest approval rating as of the beginning of October was Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel, with a 37.2% positive rating and 38.9% negative rating. In second place is Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov with a 35.9% positive rating and a 41.1% negative rating, followed by President Rumen Radev (with 32.6% and 50.6%, respectively). Vice President Iliana Iotova ranked fourth (28.3% vs. 47.9%), then Continue the Change (CC) co-leader Kiril Petkov (with 26.7% vs. 57.3%), GERB leader Boyko Borissov (26.2% vs. 57.5%), Vasil Terziev (25.8% vs. 48.9%), CC co-leader Assen Vasilev (25.3% vs. 59.1%) and Democratic Bulgaria co-leader Hristo Ivanov (23.1% vs. 58.3%) 

The presidency's approval rating has gone down significantly by 5% compared to July this year. Currently, distrust of the President is greater than trust, commented Pavlov. The government's approval rating went up by 2%, but so did its negative rating, Pavlov pointed out. He noted that this is the institution that stands the best currently.

The people of Sofia are better off economically than the rest of the country's citizens, Pavlov pointed out regarding the citizens' problems. Half of Sofianites have put aside economic problems and put other things first, such as the fight against corruption (23.8%), joining Schengen and the Eurozone (13.3%), changes in the Constitution, and judicial reform (12.2%).

When asked whether it was important for Sofia citizens whether relatives of a candidate for mayor were part of the communist-era State Security, 34.7% said it was important, and 42.6% said it was not important. About 23% have no opinion. Also, 22% said it would be better if the Monument to the Soviet Army was demolished, 27.8% thought it would be better to move it to a museum, and 30.7% said it should stay where it is. Another 19.5% do not have a definite opinion, according to the survey data.