site.btaTurnout Reaches 46.65% Half an Hour before Close in North Macedonia’s Local Elections

Voter turnout in the Republic of North Macedonia’s local elections stood at 46.65% half an hour before close of polling, with returns from 94.62% of polling stations processed, State Election Commission Chair Boris Kondarko said on Sunday.

Turnout was lower than at the same time in the 2021 local elections, when 49.98% had voted.

In Skopje, where voters elected a mayor, a city council, and mayors and municipal councils in the city’s ten municipalities, turnout reached 46.64%, or 803,720 voters, based on results from 94.67% of polling stations.

In the municipalities of Centar Zupa, Vrapchishte, and Mavrovo and Rostusha, less than one-third of registered voters participated in the election, according to Kondarko. Under electoral law, if voter turnout is below one-third, the election is repeated within 60 days.

Polls were scheduled to close at 7:00 pm local time (8:00 pm in Bulgaria). Kondarko said the final turnout figures and the first unofficial results would be published after midnight.

Twenty-two parties, 19 coalitions and 119 independent candidates contested the elections. There were 309 mayoral candidates across the 80 municipalities and Skopje, and 576 lists for municipal councillors with a total of 10,490 candidates.

Sunday’s local elections were the eighth since the country declared independence.