At Stake in this Election: 

• All 240 seats of the National Assembly of Bulgaria 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Rumen RADEV (since 22 January 2017) 

• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Galab DONEV (since 2 August 2022) 

• Assembly: unicameral National Assembly (Народно събрание / Narodno Sabranie) with 240 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in up to two rounds. The president may serve up to two 5-year terms. 

• The Prime Minister is elected by the National Assembly. 

• Members of the National Assembly are directly elected by proportional representation vote in multi-seat constituencies. Parties and coalitions must earn at least 4% of the overall vote to receive a seat. Members serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

No single party won a majority in the 2022 election, though six parties and coalitions won seats. The United Democratic Forces won 67 seats followed by We Continue the Change (53), DPS (36), Revival (27), BSP for Bulgaria (25), Democratic Bulgaria (20), and Bulgarian Rise (12). Voter turnout was 39%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

This is Bulgaria’s fifth legislative election in two years. President Radev dissolved the National Assembly in January of 2023 and called a snap election after members failed to form a governing coalition. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 28 February 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 19 March 2023 (last day to request change of voting location) 

• All eligible voters are passively registered based on their permanent address. 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• GERB-UDF / ГЕРБ - СДС 

• Leader: Boyko BORISOV 

• Seats won in last election: 67 out of 240 

• We Continue the Change + Democratic Bulgaria / Продължаваме промяната + Демократична България (PP-DB) 

• Leader: Kiril PETKOV 

• Seats won in last election: 53 + 20 out of 240 

• Movement for Rights and Freedoms / Движение за права и свободи (DPS) 

• Leader: Mustafa KARADAYI 

• Seats won in last election: 36 out of 240 

• REVIVAL / Възраждане 

• Leader: Kostadin KOSTADINOV 

• Seats won in last election: 27 out of 240 

• BSP for Bulgaria / БСП за България (BSPzB) 

• Leader: Korneliya NINOVA 

• Seats won in last election: 25 out of 240 

• Bulgarian Rise / Български възход (BV) 

• Leader: Stefan YANEV 

• Seats won in last election: 12 out of 240 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 6,837,736 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 6,850,969 (2022) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 3,506,531 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 July 1980, Ratified 8 February 1982 

• Gender Quota: No 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 58 out of 240 (24.2%) in the National Assembly 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.795, High, Rank 68 (2021 est.) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 23%, Low (2019 est.)  

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 27 September 2007, Ratified 22 March 2012 

• Projected population with a disability: 642,747 (2023 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Bulgaria: Yes, programming  

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 2 judgments & 22 resources