Exit poll

Bozhidar Lukarski, one of the Reformist Bloc's leaders, has been cautious about future coalitions, saying the bloc should await the final results.

He described the figures as "expected", since the bloc had worked hard to do well at the elections.

Lukarski ruled out a three-party coalition if RB is in the government.

Voter activity in the early general poll held in Bulgaria on Sunday stood at about 39.5% of those eligible to vote as of 17:00 EEST, the election watchdog CEC has announced.

The voter turnout in Bulgaria's early elections as of 4 PM is 35.3%, shows a Gallup exit poll, quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio.

"Fourty percent of the ballots, cast by that hour were in the regional centres, 20% in the small towns, 26% in the villages and 13% in Sofia," Dimitar Ganev of the agency told the national broadcaster.

Bulgarians are voting Sunday in early parliamentary elections.

Polls are open on Election Day from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 pm.

Bulgarians can vote at 11 434 polling stations in Bulgaria and 428 polling stations abroad.

Exit poll results on election day can be published in the social media, but not in the media, ruled Bulgaria's Central Electoral Committee (CEC).

The media, including media websites, will be fined if they do so, warned CEC in response to a letter of media chiefs from Tuesday, asking for clarification on the matter.

Editors-in-chief and directors of more than 10 of the leading pint, electronic and internet media in Bulgaria demanded equal treatment on election day over the announcing of exit poll results.

According to exit polls, confectionery tycoon Petro Poroshenko wins 55% of the votes in Ukraine’s presidential elections.

The elections were marked with low turnout in the eastern part of the country, where polling stations were closed in many places by the pro-Russian separatists.

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko comes far behind in second place with 12.8%.

40% of Bulgarians took advantage of the preference vote option in the European Parliament elections by 2 pm on Sunday, according to exit poll data.

Around 22.7% of the eligible voters cast their ballots by 2 pm on Sunday and 40% of them used the preference voting option, according to exit poll data of polling agency Gallup International.

By Paschos Mandravelis

In many other parts of the world, when there is a problem people will seek a decent solution. But not here. Faced with a problem, Greeks are more likely to propose a ban.

The failure of most public opinion polls in the runup to Sunday’s local elections to effectively predict the outcome, as well as the mistakes seen in the initial exit poll regarding who was ahead and where, have deepened citizens’ skepticism toward what they see as just another part of the country’s flawed political system.