Polls close in Serbia with highest turnout since 1992 as irregularity claims mark vote against Vucic's party
Polls have closed in Serbia's snap parliamentary election. Voting ended at 8pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday, with first indications of the result expected a few hours later.
The State Election Commission said voter turnout had reached 64.9 percent by 17:00 GMT, the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, according to the commission.
The vote will determine whether President Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has governed since 2012, can retain power against a movement born from nationwide anticorruption protests.
The higher turnout does not show which side gained support. University of Belgrade researcher Jelena Vasiljevic told Al Jazeera in an interview published on Friday that the SNS had a reliable voter base, while the students needed to attract people who normally did not vote.
Sunday's voting was also marked by reports of intimidation and procedural problems. The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), an independent election watchdog, said its observers recorded pressure on voters or election workers at almost a third of the 500 polling stations it monitored. It also reported failures to protect ballot secrecy.
By 5pm local time (16:00 GMT), the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), another election-monitoring group, had received about 260 reports of potential irregularities, including ballot photography, group voting and difficulties with identification checks.
In Belgrade, police wearing riot helmets and carrying shields deployed near the election commission's headquarters, where roads were closed and barricades erected. City prosecutors appealed on Sunday for everyone involved in the election to avoid violence.
The election follows nearly two years of student-led protests that began after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people. Demands for accountability widened into a movement against alleged government corruption and repression. Vucic and the SNS deny those accusations.
The Student List – Students Win, which emerged from the demonstrations, is fielding candidates drawn from professions including medicine and education, many of whom have no political experience. The movement campaigns for stronger institutions and an end to corruption.
