At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Bulgaria

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Petar STOYANOV
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Simeon SAX-COBURG-GOTHA
• Assembly: Bulgaria has a unicameral National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie) with 240 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is elected by parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Narodno Sobranie) 240 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Georgi PURVANOV*
  • Party: Bulgarian Socialist Party
• Petar STOYANOV*
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Bogomil BONEV
  • Party: Civil Party for Bulgaria
• Reneta INDZHOVA
  • Party: Movement for Rights and Freedoms'
• George GANCHEV
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Petur BERON
  • Party: Independent Candidate

*Georgi Purvanov and Peter STOYANOV advanced to the second round of the presidential election.

Last Presidential election:

• Presidential elections were last held on October 27 and November 3, 1996. Petar STOYANOV received 59.73% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 7,796,694 (July 2000 est.)
• Registered Voters: 6,868,371 ( 2001 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 4,114,100 (2001)

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CEDAW: Yes (8 February 1982)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes 

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 63 (following the 2001 election)

·         Human Development Index Position: 59 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Bulgaria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (27 September 2007)

·         Has Bulgaria ratified CRPD: Yes (22 March 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 1,203,042 (est.)