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Serbian voters will go to the polls tomorrow in a snap general election to choose the 250 members of the National Assembly, with 6,450,523 people entitled to vote, according to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).

The vote is the first national election since student protests began after a concrete canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024, killing 16 people. The demonstrations grew into a nationwide movement calling for those responsible to be put on trial, for transparency and for early elections, and have continued for nearly two years.

Seats and voting system

Voters will elect the new members of the 250-seat National Assembly. Deputies are chosen under a proportional representation system, with a single electoral constituency and closed lists. A 3 percent threshold applies, but national minority lists are exempt from it.

Any party or alliance needs 126 seats to secure a majority in parliament.

Election set against months of protests

The campaign has unfolded in the shadow of the protests triggered by the Novi Sad station disaster. The nationwide movement, driven by students, has demanded accountability for the 16 deaths, greater transparency and an early vote.

Aleksandar Vucic, who resigned from the presidential post, signed a decree dissolving parliament in September and set the early election process in motion. During the campaign, Vucic said the election result would be accepted and that opponents would be congratulated if they won.

Eighteen lists on the ballot

The RIK approved 19 lists to take part in the election. After one list withdrew, 18 remain on the ballot, nine of them running with national minority status.

The first slot on the ballot paper goes to the "Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia" list, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has held power since 2012. Second is the "Ivica Dacic - Stability Factor" list led by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and third is the student-backed "Student List - Students Win", whose top candidate is Ilija Srdanovic.

Other contenders include "European Serbia: Marinika Tepic, Zdravko Ponos", "Authentic Right - Dr. Milos Jovanovic - New DSS - Monarchists", "Bogoljub Karic - Power of Serbia Movement" and "Vladimir Gajic - Alternative for Serbia". The minority lists include "Rasim Ljajic - Humanitarian SDP/CDP", the "Movement of Unity" of the Justice and Reconciliation Party (SPP) led by Usame Zukorlic, the "Guardians of Sandzak" of the Sandzak Democratic Action Party (SDA), the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and the Albanian Coalition.

Polls suggest the contest is between the "United Serbia" list, with Vucic as its candidate for prime minister, and the Student List. The most recent surveys put the two lists at similar levels of support.

Polling stations at home and abroad

Voting will run tomorrow from 07:00 to 20:00 local time. A total of 8,392 polling stations will be open across the country and abroad, and 102,147 voters have registered to cast their ballots outside Serbia.

The largest number of overseas polling stations, 28, has been set up in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the RIK's decision, stations abroad will also be open from 07:00 to 20:00 Central European Time, which means some voters in the Americas and Oceania will vote during their local night hours.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), along with monitors from a number of countries and international organizations, have arrived in Serbia to follow the process. The last parliamentary election in Serbia was held in December 2023.

Key takeaways

• 6,450,523 voters are eligible to elect the 250-seat National Assembly in tomorrow's snap election.
• The vote is the first national election since the November 1, 2024 Novi Sad station canopy collapse that killed 16 people and sparked nearly two years of protests.
• Eighteen lists are on the ballot, nine of them national minority lists; 126 seats are needed for a majority.
• Polls point to a close race between the "United Serbia" list and the student-backed Student List.