CRTA: 19.8% of voters had voted by 10:00 in Serbia, twice the 2023 figure

Monitoring group CRTA estimated that 19.8 percent of registered voters in Serbia had cast their ballots by 10:00 on the day of the snap parliamentary elections, about twice the turnout recorded at the same hour in 2023, when 9.8 percent had voted.

The CRTA estimate carries a margin of error of ±0.6 percentage points and is based on more than 2,000 observers working from a representative sample of 500 polling stations.

Early queues and opening problems

Other observers, including Ipsos and the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), put turnout at 12 percent by 09:00 — also roughly double the 5.3 percent reported at that hour during the 2023 parliamentary vote. Long lines formed early in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Cacak and Sabac, with some voters queuing before polling stations opened at 07:00. Large queues were also noted in Raska, Vranje and Rudnica, where voters from Kosovo were voting.

CRTA reported that polling stations were generally opened on time, but on 16 percent of monitored sites opening was delayed by more than ten minutes. In four percent of cases observers recorded inadequate preparations that led to disputes among election board members and delays in starting voting.

In several instances CRTA observers were initially denied access to polling stations; those issues were resolved after intervention by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).

The organisation also warned that around 30,000 voters do not appear in alphabetical order in the extracts from the voter rolls — their names appear at the end or elsewhere in the extracts — and urged citizens to request additional checks if they cannot be found.

Eighteen electoral lists are competing for 250 parliamentary seats, with a total of 2,418 candidates. There are 6,451,292 eligible voters in Serbia and polling stations will remain open until 20:00.

Photo: press material from the event