Electoral silence begins in Serbia after Student List rally

Electoral silence has come into force in Serbia after a mass closing rally held by the opposition Student List ahead of early parliamentary elections set for Sunday, 25 October. The silence began at midnight and will continue until Sunday at 20:00.

Key rules and sanctions during the silence

Serbian election law states that the period of electoral silence starts 48 hours before the start of election day and also covers the election day itself. The ban covers presenting candidates and programmes in media and at public gatherings, urging to vote for or against a particular list, and publishing projections of results until polling stations close.

Violations carry monetary penalties: from 100,000 to 600,000 dinars for legal entities; from 50,000 to 150,000 dinars for a responsible person in a media outlet; from 20,000 to 50,000 dinars for a responsible person in a legal entity; and from 10,000 to 40,000 dinars for individuals.

Official figures show 6,450,523 voters are registered for the early parliamentary elections on Sunday, 25 October. Voting will take place at a total of 8,392 polling places: 93 abroad in 37 countries, 29 inside penitentiary institutions, and 60 polling places for voters from the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, who will cast ballots in four towns — Raška, Tutin, Vranje and Kuršumlija.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27 polling places will open; nearly 20,000 voters are registered there, the Serbian consul general in Banja Luka, Miloš Vujić, confirmed. Ballot papers have been printed in 29 language versions.

Eighteen electoral lists are competing for 250 seats in the Serbian parliament. They range from the Aleksandar Vučić-led list to smaller and single-person lists. The full list of contestants is published in official election materials:

• Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia
• Ivica Dačić – Factor of Stability
• Student List – Students Win
• Rasim Ljajić – People's (SDP–CDP)
• Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians – Dr. Bálint Pásztor
• Usame Zukorlić – Movement for Unification
• Russian Party – Serbia in BRICS – Slobodan Nikolić
• Authentic Right – Dr. Miloš Jovanović – Brave Serb
• European Serbia – Marinika Tepić – Zdravko Ponos
• SDA Sandžak – Guardians of Sandžak
• Bogoljub Karić – Movement of Serbian Forces – BK
• Liberal Green Party – For a Freer and Cleaner Serbia
• I Choose Justice – I Choose the Future
• Festival of Russo-Serbian Unity – Russians and Serbs, Brothers Forever
• Grandpa, This Is for You – Petar Gjurić – Prime Minister of Serbia
• Vladimir Gajić – Alternative for Serbia
• Albanian Coalition
• Mother Serbia – Gruda

Last night the Student List – Students Win held its final campaign rally at Slavija Square in Belgrade. Organisers say around 150,000 people took part; marchers advanced in six organised columns from different city districts: New Belgrade, Zemun and Čukarica among them. The Student List aims to end the more than 14-year rule of the right‑populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Aleksandar Vučić.

Photo: press material from the event