"VOLT" (Political party in Bulgaria)

"VOLT"
Политическа партия ,,ВОЛТ"
AbbreviationVolt / Волт
ChairpersonNastimir Ananiev
Vice ChairpersonBoris Borisov
Founded19 May 2018; 8 years ago (2018-05-19)
HeadquartersSofia
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-left
National affiliation
National Assembly
0 / 240
European Parliament
0 / 17
Municipalities
3 / 265
Website
volt.bg
National sections of Volt Europa. The borders of the European Union are shown in red.

Political party "VOLT" (Bulgarian: ПП ,,ВОЛТ") is a social-liberal political party in Bulgaria. Formerly it was the Bulgarian branch of Volt Europa, a progressive and federalist European political alliance. The party has formerly participated in elections, mainly aligning its branding with coalitions rather than acting independently.

Foundation

Volt Bulgaria was founded in Sofia on 19 May 2018, with Nastimir Ananiev as its first chairman.

History

2019 European Parliament election

The 2019 European Parliament election in Bulgaria was the first election in which Volt took part. The party obtained 0.18% of the Vote in Bulgaria. Although the Bulgarian branch of Volt was unable to obtain a seat in the European Parliament, it was represented by the German branch, which won one seat.

2019 Bulgarian local election

Volt Bulgaria participated in the 2019 Bulgarian local elections with the ''Together for Change'' Coalition list and obtained a seat in several cities thanks to 7.12% of the votes in Haskovo, 6.12% in Rodopi, and 6.39% in Sopot.

April 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election

Volt Bulgaria participated in the April 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election as part of the anti-government Stand Up! Mafia, Get Out! (ISMV) coalition. The coalition gained 14 seats in the National Assembly, none of which were allocated to members of Volt.

July 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election

Volt Bulgaria again participated in the July 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election as part of ISMV. The coalition gained 13 seats in the 240-seat parliament, none of which were allocated to members of Volt.

November 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election

Volt Bulgaria participated in the November 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election as part of the electoral coalition We Continue the Change (PP) led by Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev, respectively the former caretaker economy and finance ministers. The coalition gained 67 seats, two of which was allocated to members of Volt. This made Volt Bulgaria the second Volt Europa party to enter a national legislature after Volt Netherlands.

Election results

National Assembly

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Government
Apr 2021 Nastimir Ananiev 150,940 4.65 (6th)
0 / 240
 New Snap election
Jul 2021 136,885 4.95 (6th)
0 / 240
 Steady 0 Snap election
Nov 2021 666,837 25.65 (1st)
2 / 240
 Increase 2 Coalition
2022 506,099 19.52 (2nd)
2 / 240
 Steady 0 Snap election
2023 621,069 23.54 (2nd)
1 / 240
 Decrease 1 Coalition
Jun 2024 307,849 13.92 (3rd)
0 / 240
 Decrease 1 Snap election
Oct 2024 Did not contest
2026 93,559 2.84 (9th)
0 / 240
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
  1. 1 2 Ran as part of the Stand Up! Mafia, Get Out! coalition
  2. 1 2 Ran as part of the We Continue the Change coalition
  3. 1 2 Ran as part of the PP–DB coalition
  4. ↑ Ran as part of the Siyanie coalition

European Parliament

Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2019 Nastimir Ananiev 3,500 0.18 (18th)
0 / 17
 New –
2024 Nikola Minchev 290,865 14.45 (3rd)
0 / 17
 Steady 0
  1. ↑ Ran as part of the PP-DB coalition

References

  1. ↑ Teffer, Peter (27 May 2019). "'Pan-European' Volt and DieM25 manage one MEP each". EU Observer. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  2. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Corinne Deloy (14 November 2021). "Bulgarians to vote in dual legislative and presidential elections" (PDF). Retrieved 24 July 2026. The BSP is forecast to take second place with 19.1% of the vote, followed by Let's Pursue Change, a coalition formed by the movement of the same name founded by Kiril Petkov and Asen Vassilev, Volt, a social-liberal party led by Nastimir Ananyev, and Georgi Manev's European Middle Class (SEC), which is forecast to obtain 14.6% of the vote, and ITN, which is forecast to obtain 14.4%.
  4. ↑ Essler, Brett (7 November 2019). "Just Do It: How two SIPA alumni founded a new European political party—and won". School of International and Public Affairs. Columbia University. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "За Волт – Политическа Партия "Волт"". Retrieved 2026-11-05.
  6. ↑ "2019 European election results in Bulgaria".
  7. ↑ "Haskovo Election results".
  8. ↑ "Rodopi Election Results".
  9. ↑ "Sopot Election Results".
  10. ↑ "Election results April 2021". Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  11. ↑ "Bulgarian July 2021 Election results".
  12. ↑ ""Волт" и "Средна европейска класа" правят коалиция "Продължаваме промяната" | Вестник "ДУМА"". duma.bg. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-15.