site.btaMyara Poll: Five Parties Certain to Enter Parliament, Three Near Threshold

Five parties are certain to enter the next parliament, while three remain close to the 4% electoral threshold, according to a survey by the Myara polling agency.

The data were collected for Bulgarian National Radio. The nationally representative survey was conducted between April 4 and 13 among 1,002 adult Bulgarians through face-to-face interviews using tablets. The maximum statistical error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 50% share. One percent of the sample corresponds to roughly 54,000 people.

According to Myara, if elections were held in the first half of April, declared support among respondents who say they would vote for a party, coalition or candidate would be as follows: Progressive Bulgaria 34.6%, GERB-UDF 18.5%, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria 11.4%, Movement for Rights and Freedoms 9.1% and Vazrazhdane 7.4%.

BSP - United Left is on the threshold with 4%, while Siyanie and MECh are slightly below it at 3.6% and 3.5% respectively. Velichie stands at 2.2%, the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms at 1.9% and There Is Such a People at 1.4%.

Potential voter turnout is estimated at 50.7%, higher than pre-election intentions in previous elections and probably well over three million people, Myara said. The agency added that 1.7% of all respondents who intend to vote said they would cast a "None of the Above" ballot.

The poll also found that 5.6% of the total sample admit they would vote in exchange for payment or other incentives, with the share expected to be highest among marginalized groups. Myara noted that the real figure is likely higher due to underreporting.

Among those who say they will vote, about two in three prefer voting machines over paper ballots.

Nearly three in four do not expect their living standards to improve after the elections. The findings also confirm conclusions from the Public Tension Index published on Thursday, which indicates that prices feature among Bulgarians' main concerns, the agency said.