Citizens of Serbia began casting their ballots on Sunday in snap parliamentary elections. Voting started at 7 am local time at nearly 8,400 polling stations across the country. Balloting is scheduled to close at 8 pm.
Eighteen electoral lists are competing for seats in the legislature, fielding more than 2,400 candidates. Serbians living abroad can also cast ballots at 93 polling stations located across 37 countries, with more than 102,000 voters registered overseas. Four Serbian municipalities have designated 60 extra polling stations for voters registered in neighbouring Kosovo, where large ethnic Serb populations reside.
Domestic and international observers are monitoring the electoral process. Representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament are present at polling stations.
The vote takes place after months of student-led protests and a political crisis that led to President Aleksandar Vucic’s resignation in September. Vucic is seeking a return to government as prime minister through the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The party has dominated domestic politics since 2012 and is contesting the vote under the electoral list titled Aleksandar Vucic United Serbia.
A major challenger in the election is the student-backed Student List Students Win. The movement emerged from demonstrations following the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, a disaster that killed 16 people. The student movement has demanded accountability for the tragedy, greater transparency, and institutional reforms to strengthen the rule of law.
Other political contenders include the Socialist Party of Serbia led by Ivica Dacic, the pro-European European Serbia coalition, and the nationalist Authentic Right bloc. Serbia uses a proportional representation system to elect its 250 lawmakers, with seats distributed using the D’Hondt method.
Electoral lists generally need to secure at least 3% of the vote to enter parliament. Lists representing national minorities are exempt from this threshold. A party or coalition requires a minimum of 126 seats to secure a majority and form a government.
The Republic Electoral Commission is responsible for compiling and announcing the overall election results. The new parliament must be constituted within 30 days of the publication of final results. A new government must then be formed within 90 days of the parliament’s constitution.
The elections unfold against divisions over Serbia’s European integration, relations with Russia and China, and the unresolved dispute over neighbouring Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. Serbia is an European Union candidate country but maintains close ties with Moscow, having declined to join Western sanctions against Russia.
Sunday’s vote marks Serbia’s 15th parliamentary elections since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990, and its 10th snap parliamentary vote. The previous parliamentary elections took place in December 2023.
