Only 39.2 per cent of Bulgarians voted on Sunday, sending incumbent president Petar Stoyanov and Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Georgi Purvanov to a second round of presidential elections. This marks the lowest voter turnout since the first democratic elections were held in 1990.

According to exit polls, the two candidates had almost equal support - between 35 and 36 per cent, but they all indicated that Purvanov held a slight lead. In order to be elected in the first round, a candidate has to receive more than half of the valid votes. According to the Constitution, if this doesn't happen, the two frontrunners compete in a runoff and the candidate to poll the greater number of votes, regardless of voter participation, wins the elections.

Since 1992, when the first presidential elections were held, no president has been elected in the first round. In the previous elections, Stoyanov won 59.73 per cent of the votes in the second round.

Forecasts that former Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev would finish second and compete with Stoyanov in a runoff were disproved on Sunday. The first woman to run for president in Bulgarian history, former caretaker prime minister Reneta Indjova (supported by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms), George Ganchev's Bloc leader George Ganchev, and former Union of Democratic Forces leader Petar Beron, finished far behind the first three.

"These elections have shown people's will for change, including in the presidential institution," Purvanov said during a press conference at the International Press Centre late on Sunday.

According to Purvanov, Bulgarians want a new president, unrelated to the failed government of the UDF, who has proven his morality and political integrity.

Later, Stoyanov told reporters that he expected to win the second round. "For the second round, I expect us to draw more supporters of the formations that are backing us, as well as the voters non-aligned with any party," he said. He added that there was no time for pessimism and that he would continue with an even more intensive campaign.

National police reports show that the elections took place in a peaceful atmosphere with no major violations of public order. The elections experienced some technical problems mostly related to the computer processing of the results and in some polling districts the ballots had to counted by hand.

Round two of the elections will be held on November 18.