Local elections in Southern and Eastern Serbia will be held in or before 30 June 2024, as part of the 2024 Serbian local elections.

Background

edit

Summary of previous (2020) election results in Southern and Eastern Serbia

Events that occurred since then (both national and in Southern and Eastern Serbia)

Electoral system

edit

Local elections in Serbia are held under a proportional representation system. Eligible voters vote for electoral lists, on which the registered candidates are present. An electoral list could be submitted by a registered political party, a coalition of political parties, or a citizens' group. The number of valid signatures needed to be collected to take part in the election varies by the number of eligible voters in that municipality. At least 40 percent of candidates on electoral lists must be female. The electoral list is submitted by its chosen ballot representative, who does not have to be present on its electoral list. An electoral list could be declined, after which those who had submitted can fix the deficiencies in a span of 48 hours, or rejected, if the person is not authorised to nominate candidates. The name and date of the election, the names of the electoral lists and its ballot representatives, and information on how to vote are only present on the voting ballot.[1]

Local electoral commissions and polling boards oversee the election. Seats are allocated with an electoral threshold of 3 percent of all votes cast, however if no electoral list wins 3 percent of all votes cast, then all electoral lists that received votes can participate in the distribution of seats. The seats are distributed by electoral lists in proportion to the number of votes received, while the number of seats belonging to electoral lists is determined by applying the highest quotient system. The seats are distributed by dividing the total number of votes received by the electoral list participating in the distribution of seats by each number from one to the number of councilors the local assembly has. The obtained quotients are classified by size so that the electoral list has as many mandates as it has its quotients among the highest quotients of all the electoral lists participating in the distribution. If two or more electoral lists receive the same quotients on the basis of which the seat is distributed, the electoral list that received the greater number of votes has priority. The seats in the local assemblies are awarded to the candidates to their order on the electoral list, starting with the first candidate from an electoral list. When the councilors of a local assembly are sworn in, they in turn elect the mayor.[1]

An electoral list could be declared the status of an ethnic minority electoral list by the local electoral commission. An ethnic minority electoral list could be only submitted by a registered political party or a coalition of political parties of an ethnic minority. If the percentage of the members of that ethnic minority is less than 50% in that municipality, an electoral list could be then granted the status of an ethnic minority electoral list. If the electoral list receives less than the 3 percent electoral threshold of all votes cast, it would still take part in the distribution of seats. When the distribution of seats takes place, the quotients of ethnic minority electoral lists that won less than 3 percent of the votes are increased by 35 percent.[1]

Any local election, whether it is a municipal or a local assembly election, is called by the president of the National Assembly, who also has to announce its date. To vote, a person has to be a citizen and resident of Serbia and at least 18 years old. A voter could only vote in the municipality of their residence. An election silence begins two days before the scheduled election, meaning that no opinion polls, presentation of candidates and their programmes, or invitation to vote in the election could take place.[1]

Election date

edit

In April 2023, newspaper Danas reported that snap parliamentary elections, local elections, Vojvodina provincial election, and the Belgrade City Assembly election could be held as early as in November 2023.[2] At a press conference in July 2023, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia and former president of SNS, said that an early parliamentary election "could take place in September or December if the opposition parties agree. And if not, we will have general elections in April or May 2024, to be held concurrently with the Vojvodina provincial election and the regular local elections".[3] By law, the Vojvodina provincial election and regular local elections could be held as late as 30 June 2024.[4] Darko Glišić, the president of the SNS executive board, stated that the local and provincial elections will be held in the first half of 2024.[5]

Abbreviations

edit
Name Abbreviation
Action for Smederevo AZS
Democratic Party DS
Healthy Serbia ZS
People's Party Narodna

Results and campaign

edit

Bor District

edit

Kladovo

edit

Majdanpek

edit

Negotin

edit

Braničevo District

edit

Požarevac

edit

Kostolac

edit

Veliko Gradište

edit

Golubac

edit

Žabari

edit

Žagubica

edit

Kučevo

edit

Malo Crniće

edit

Petrovac na Mlavi

edit

Zaječar District

edit

Zaječar

edit

Boljevac

edit

Knjaževac

edit

Sokobanja

edit

Jablanica District

edit

Leskovac

edit

Bojnik

edit

Vlasotince

edit

Lebane

edit

Medveđa

edit

Crna Trava

edit

Niš District

edit

Niš

edit

In June 2023, Nova srpska politička misao conducted an opinion poll for the local election.[6]

Polling firm Date of publishment Sample size SNS–led
coalition
SPSJS NMG SPAS NADA PSG SSZ Together SSP Dveri SRCE DS Narodna Others Lead
DSS/NDSS POKS
NSPM[6] 21 July 950 25.9 17.2 [a] 3.3 3.0 5.1 5.1 4.9 3.7 3.5 3.5 24.8[b] 27.8
2020 election 21 June 60.2 8.7 5.0 4.9 2.5 1.7 2.3 1.6 12.8 51.55

https://www.juznevesti.com/Politika/Novi-politicki-front-u-Nisu-Brzi-Brod-SotirovskiNisi-vise-nasa-gradonacelnica.sr.html

https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/574323/Nove-snage-na-politickoj-sceni-Nisa


Medijana

edit

Niška Banja

edit

Palilula

edit

Pantelej

edit

Crveni Krst

edit

Aleksinac

edit

Gadžin Han

edit

Doljevac

edit

Merošina

edit

Ražanj

edit

Svrljig

edit

Pirot District

edit

Pirot

edit

Babušnica

edit

Bela Palanka

edit

Dimitrovgrad

edit

Podunavlje District

edit

Smederevo

edit

In November 2022, citizens' group AZS, and opposition parties DS, Narodna, and ZS, announced their joint participation in the local election in Smederevo.[7]

Velika Plana

edit

Smederevska Palanka

edit

Pčinja District

edit

Vranje

edit

Vranjska Banja

edit

Bosilegrad

edit

Bujanovac

edit

Vladičin Han

edit

Preševo

edit

Surdulica

edit

Trgovište

edit

Toplica District

edit

Prokuplje

edit

Blace

edit

Žitorađa

edit

Kuršumlija

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Merged into the Serbian Progressive Party in 2021
  2. ^ Green–Left Front: 2.5%, DJB: 2.1%, SDS: 1.6%, ZS: 1.2%, Others: 3.3%, while 14.1% of respondents had stated that they would vote for the opposition

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "Zakon o lokalnim izborima" [Law on Local Elections]. Pravno-informacioni sistem (in Serbian). 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Vučić raspisuje izbore za novembar?" [Vučić to call elections for November?]. Danas (in Serbian). 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. ^ "Vučić najavio kad bi mogli biti novi izbori" [Vučić announces when new elections could be held]. Danas (in Serbian). 13 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  4. ^ Kojić, Nikola (2023-07-14). "Zašto izbori ne mogu biti u terminima koje je najavio Vučić" [Why can't the elections be held in the terms announced by Vučić]. N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  5. ^ "Glišić: Lokalni i pokrajinski izbori u prvoj polovini 2024, o vanrednim odluka narednih dana" [Glišić: Local and provincial elections in the first half of 2024, snap election decisions in the coming days]. 021.rs (in Serbian). 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  6. ^ a b "Niš - jun 2023" [Niš - June 2023]. Nova srpska politička misao (in Serbian). 21 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  7. ^ "DS, Narodna stranka, Zdrava Srbija i Akcija za Smederevo zajedno na izbore" [DS, People's Party, Healthy Serbia, and Action for Smederevo together in the elections]. N1 (in Serbian). 2022-11-24. Retrieved 2023-06-22.