Serbia votes – what do you need to know?
Serbia’s strongman Aleksandar Vučić faces the strongest challenge to his 12-year rule in the country, as grassroots protest movement led by Serbia’s students hopes to oust him from office in snap parliamentary elections (17:31).
The vote comes after nearly two years of widespread protests against alleged government and institutional corruption, triggered by a railway disaster in 2024 (17:42).
Critics say Vučić, a former information minister of Slobodan Milošević, deploys nationalist playbook in domestic politics, while keeping close ties with Russia and China (17:14) and not making progress on Serbia’s path towards the European Union (17:48).
The election takes place amid tense atmosphere with partial turnout data pointing to unprecedented voter mobilisation (18:32, 18:58) amid allegations of electoral irregularities with a record-high number of observers following the vote (18:00, 19:11).
Polls close at 8pm (7pm UK), with first projections expected later tonight, around 9.30pm (8.30pm UK; 18:34, 18:42).
Belgrade takes to streets to celebrate as Vučić concedes election
Ana Milosavljevic
in Belgrade
Vučić’s concession prompts wild scenes of celebration here in Belgrade.
Some are still in disbelief. “This was kind of easy, no?,” they laugh.
Ipsos/CeSID projection: Student List wins by landslide, ending Vučić’s rule
We are just getting the first Ipsos/CeSID projection, which shows the Student List well ahead on 52%, with Vučić’s list on mere 39.3%.
They are projected to have 138 seats in the new parliament, well clear of the 126 required for majority, to Vučić’s 104.
That’s via the N1 broadcaster.
Vučić concedes election, says Student List will be the largest party
Did you have that on your bingo?
Vučić appears to concede the election.
He says he is expecting the Student List to have a majority in the new parliament, well clear of the 126 required to govern, and his SNS will have only 105 mandates.
Wow. What a moment.
Vučić expected to address party faithful shortly
Serbia’s former president and list leader Aleksandar Vučić is expected to speak in the next few minutes, according to the Serbian state broadcaster, RTS.
Let’s see what he has to say.
For what it’s worth, he told reporters earlier today:
He later added:
Election monitors raise concerns about road blockage near election commission, security worries of EU observers
Head of the CRTA monitoring mission Raša Nedeljkov spoke about the restrictions in accessing the electoral commission on his press conference just moments ago (20:18).
During his briefing, he also got repeatedly asked about the view of the international observers, but declined to comment, saying that it’s up to them to declare it at their press conference tomorrow.
But he eventually says:
Ana Milosavljevic
in Belgrade
Some excited people are gathering near the closed off electoral commission, shouting the students’ slogan “pumpaj” and “he’s finished!” to honking cars passing by.
Let’s see if that’s not premature.
'Scenes from Serbia are deeply concerning,' former UK foreign affairs committee chief says
Alicia Kearns, former chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee, is the latest politician to sound the alarm over the potentially escalating climate in Serbia.
Writing on X, she said:
It looks like voting hours are being extended at some polling stations after a somewhat chaotic afternoon.
In the southern city of Leskovac, one polling station will remain open until 11pm after voting was briefly suspended following an altercation involving a smaller party representative – and then another two other staff members got into a fight, prompting a police intervention, N1 reported.
Good luck with that vote count. Looks like they will need it.
The latest projection from election monitoring group CRTA puts turnout at 67.8% as of 7pm, running consistently 13 to 14 percentage points ahead of the 2023 vote.
That’s very similar to CeSID/Ipsos projection, perhaps encouragingly so (19:55).
Observers expect that figure to climb by another three or four percentage points before polls close, potentially challenging Serbia’s all-time record of 71.4% set in 1990.
Diaspora voters battle long queues as they are determined to cast their ballots
Earlier today, I mentioned how important the diaspora vote could be in this year’s election – despite some unsocial voting times for voters in the US, Canada and Australia (18:58, 19:09).
Here are some videos showing the extent of mobilisation in London, Vienna and Chicago, which all saw lengthy queues to get into the polling stations:
It’s worth noting that earlier today, the students urged their supporters to stay away from any areas seeing reinforced police presence to avoid any provocations.
In a statement on X, they said:
Strengthened police presence near key institutions as polls close in Serbia
Ana Milosavljevic
in Belgrade
Police have cordoned off part of Kralja Milana Street in downtown Belgrade, where the Republic Electoral Commission is located.
Meanwhile, groups of people congregate in front of the cordon, catching up and speculating about the results, as Vučić’s campaign advertisements cycle on a screen above them.
Dozens of gendarmerie officers, some looking bored and scrolling through their phones, are scattered throughout Pionirski Park, opposite the National Assembly and home to “Ćacilend,” the notorious government-backed counter-encampment.
In front of the Presidency, several cordons have also been set up, behind which squads of police officers gather around a handful of police vans.
Meanwhile, drivers stopped at the intersection in front of the National Assembly lean on their horns as passersby pump their fists into the air in anticipation of the results to come.
Meanwhile, let’s go across to Ana Milosavljevic in Belgrade for the latest on what’s happening in the capital.
What is Serbia's electoral system?
Welcome to the geek corner.
Serbia’s electoral system is both straightforward and complicated, which makes it a nightmare to explain in a short blog post.
Generally, we are talking about a 250-seat parliament, and it’s a race to 126 in terms of securing a majority. There is only one constituency, and you vote for a closed party list, not a specific candidate.
So far, so good.
The electoral threshold is generally 3%, but there are exceptions from this rule for national minority parties and they may or may not be relevant when determining the outcome of the vote.
Over to Florian Bieber of the University of Graz:
And that’s before we look at the minority parties and what they may want (or not) to do with their votes.
Polls close across Serbia
So, that’s done.
Now, the wait begins.
As explained earlier, we are expecting first projections – based on what both groups claim are representative samples of polling stations – to drop a bit later, around 9.30pm local time, so 8.30pm UK (18:42)
The polls are theoretically closing in under five minutes now – but anyone standing in the queue at 8pm Serbian time will still be able to cast their votes even a bit later.
So, if you are somewhere in the world, waiting in that queue, and reading our blog – don’t lose your spot.
CeSID/Ipsos project turnout of 67.6% at 7pm
The latest data from CeSID and Ipsos projects national turnout at 67.6% as of 7pm – once again pointing towards an exceptionally high final figure.
