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Serbia votes as strongman Vučić faces grassroots challenge to 12-year rule – Europe live
Vučić concedes Serbian election, says Student List will be the largest party – Europe live
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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.
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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: “I’m expecting a huge turnout, of course, democratic will to…
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). “We noticed that, for the first time ever in history, access to the Republican Electoral Commission is blocked to the electors. As…
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: “Scenes from Serbia are deeply concerning and fears are escalating. The Government has a duty…
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 the…
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…
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 qu…
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: “We call on all citizens of Belgrade not to gather near the locations where increased police presence an…
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 advertiseme…
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, a…
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)
henryherald.com
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.
Vučić voters still back him against students
Ana Milosavljevic in Belgrade Meanwhile, Vučić voters defended his track record in government, insisting he “has accomplished what nobody else could have.” Olga, 85, insisted that “he has done more than anyone could have.” She added she respected the student movement, and “hoped that because of the…
Opposition voters see election as referendum on Vučić and chance to change Serbia
Ana Milosavljevic in Belgrade Many voters the Guardian spoke to emphasised that this year’s electoral choice really as simple as choosing between the establishment and what they see is a promise of a functioning state that respects the rule of law. Stevan, 72, said that in his view ““a particular c…
Serbian election sees highest turnout since breakup of Yugoslavia, partial data show
The latest turnout data from 6pm – this time from the electoral commission – show once again that we are on course for unprecedented final numbers today. With 64.9% by 6pm it is already the highest turnout since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992. The polling closes 8pm local time, in just under 40…
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 a…
EU 'deeply concerned about reported violent incidents' in Serbia, ambassador says
Meanwhile, there are some first diplomatic reactions to reported incidents at some polling stations across Serbia. The EU’s ambassador to Serbia Andreas von Beckerath said on X: “We are deeply concerned about reported violent incidents across a number of polling stations. Serbian citizens need to b…
Up to three-hour wait at the Serbian embassy in London as Serbs in UK turn out to vote
It was a sunny, if chilly and extremely windy day in London, but none of that seems to have mattered much for the thousands of determined Serbians who turned out to vote at the embassy in Belgravia. By late lunchtime, the queue stretched hundreds of metres, winding around the elegant blocks of buil…
Record-high number of diaspora voters take part in Serbian election
Back to Serbia, a record-high number of over 100,000 people, three times as many as in 2023, registered to vote abroad, but a quirk in the way the overseas vote is organised means that some of them had to cast their votes, erm, at night. Serbia’s electoral commission has tied voting hours to the lo…
Radev's former vice-president Iotova leads in Bulgarian presidential election ahead of runoff, exit polls show
By the way, Serbia is not the only country hosting elections today or this weekend. In the last hour, the polls closed in Bulgaria where voters choose the new president filling the post vacated by populist leader Rumen Radev, who resigned earlier this year to stand in parliamentary elections and ta…
dpa-international.com
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Unreliable pre-election polls and projections from samples – what are we going to know and when?
Somewhat unusually, we will have to rely on vibes a lot this evening (and over the night, as the vote count progress) as … there isn’t much to go by in terms of reliable data on polling intentions. Polls are infrequent and show wildly different results, with critics and cynics (you know who you are…
We are essentially getting three different sets of figures tonight: from the electoral commission, from election watchers CeSID and pollster Ipsos, and from another group of election watchers CRTA. The electoral commission’s data are naturally the most complete, with the latter two groups using the…
Turnout projected to be above 60% with three hours to go
The latest turnout projection by Ipsos/Cesid suggests a turnout of 60.8% by 5pm local time (4pm UK), with three hours still to go until the polling stations close. That’s more than 13 percentage points higher than in 2023, and would be the highest turnout since mid-2000s. With three hours to go, it…
Motivated opposition voters turn out in Belgrade in closely-monitored high-stake election
Ana Milosavljevic in Belgrade Tired eyes and smiles adorned the faces of thousands of Serbians who woke up early this morning to cast their vote, breaking all turnout records of early voting. When asked about their motivation to arrive so early at the polling station, Ana, 42, said with a smile: “W…
Record-high turnout so far by 4pm
Since the early morning, we have seen Serbian voters turning out to vote in unprecedented numbers, with projected turnout already at 56.4% by 4pm, just over 14 percentage points higher than at this point in 2023. In fact, it’s already just marginally below the 2023 turnout with another four hours t…
