Bulgaria: Radev leads poll with 32 percent (Market LINKS Poll from 13.02.2026)

According to Trend data, 4 parties are projected to surpass the electoral threshold and enter Bulgaria's parliament: GERB with 102 representatives, BSP with 86 representatives, DPS with 28 representatives and Obedineni patrioti with 24 representatives.

The Bulgarian National Assembly (Narodno Sabranie) comprises 240 members, elected for a four-year term. Its electoral system employs proportional representation with closed lists across 31 multi-member constituencies. Since 2021, Bulgaria has significantly expanded the use of voting machines in larger polling stations to enhance transparency and minimize manual counting errors. Seat allocation follows the Hare-Niemeyer method, ensuring a mathematically precise reflection of the national voter will.

To enter the Bulgarian Parliament, parties must clear a nationwide electoral threshold of 4% of the valid votes. This hurdle applies uniformly to individual parties and party alliances. While independent candidates face a different calculation threshold at the constituency level, this rarely occurs in practice. The 4% threshold aims to prevent excessive parliamentary fragmentation and facilitate the formation of stable governing coalitions within Bulgaria's often dynamic political landscape.

Forming a government in Bulgaria requires an absolute majority of the members present in Parliament. The President successively grants the mandate to form a government to the three strongest parliamentary groups if prior attempts fail. Given that proportional representation often results in a multi-party parliament, coalitions or parliamentary support agreements are the norm. Negotiations typically center on a shared agenda for judicial reform, economic policy, and integration into European structures like the Eurozone and Schengen Area.