Serbia votes: strongman faces grassroots challenge to 12-year rule as Europe watches

Turnout rises sharply

Ipsos/Cesid’s latest projection put turnout at 60.8% by 5pm local time, or 4pm in the UK. Polling stations were due to close three hours later, so participation could rise further.

The projection was more than 13 percentage points above the 2023 figure and would be the highest turnout since the mid-2000s. An earlier report put turnout at 56.4% by 4pm, just over 14 percentage points higher than at the same point in 2023. The article gives both estimates without explaining the difference. The highest recorded turnout for a Serbian parliamentary election was 71.4%, in 1990.

Voters arrive early

Thousands of voters were reported at polling stations early in the day, with early voting described as breaking turnout records. Ana, 42, said she arrived at 6:20am and felt there was no reason that could have kept her away.

Dragana Milić, 60, who serves on a polling station committee in Belgrade’s Voždovac municipality, said she had not seen crowds like those around 8am in at least 15 years. She also praised voters for being polite and well-mannered. Milić said media reports ahead of the election had warned of possible unrest, leaving her frightened.

Ink problems reported

Marica, 55, a volunteer observer with the IT workers grassroots group IT in Blockade, arrived at a polling station at 5:15am. She said finger-marking ink sprays failed at two stations, delaying the start of voting there.

According to Marica, the ink could be removed with wet wipes. Two replacement sprays were delivered and tested, after which voting continued without problems, for the time being.

Serbian voters have a finger marked with special ink visible only under ultraviolet light, a measure intended to stop people voting more than once. Marica said this was her first election as an observer and that she wanted to guard against manipulation or fraud.