Local elections in 65 cities and municipalities in Serbia were held on 17 December 2023. Initially scheduled to be held in 2024, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, announced, first in September and again in October 2023, that local elections could be held in December 2023, concurrently with the provincial and parliamentary elections. Following his announcement in September 2023, mayors and presidents of municipalities, including the capital Belgrade, resigned for the local elections to take place on 17 December. The elections were called on 1 November.
Background.
In most cities and municipalities in Serbia, previous local elections, which were regular, were held on 21 June 2020. Initially scheduled for 26 April 2020, they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been the ruling party of Serbia since 2012, has won most votes and seats in local assemblies of all cities and municipalities except Čajetina, Ražanj, Surdulica, Beočin, Topola, Svilajnac, and New Belgrade. Most opposition parties, including the opposition Alliance for Serbia coalition, boycotted the elections, claiming that they would not be free and fair. Since then, early local elections were held in 2 cities and 17 municipalities, in 2021 and 2022 respectively. In the 2021 local elections, SNS won the most seats in all municipalities except Preševo, and in 2022 it again won the most seats in the 12 municipalities and 2 cities where the local elections were held.
On national level, general elections were held in April 2022. SNS and its coalition partners won the most seats, while opposition parties returned to the National Assembly. The United for the Victory of Serbia alliance, which placed second in the parliamentary election and the Belgrade City Assembly election, was dissolved after the election. After the Belgrade school shooting and a mass murder near Mladenovac and Smederevo, anti-government protests have been organised in Serbia, with the largest being held in Belgrade. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken part in the protests, with "Politico" describing the protests as largest since the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević.
Electoral system.
Local elections in Serbia are held under a proportional representation system. Eligible voters vote for electoral lists, on which the registered candidates are present. An electoral list could be submitted by a registered political party, a coalition of political parties, or a citizens' group. The number of valid signatures needed to be collected to take part in the election varies by the number of eligible voters in that municipality. At least 40 percent of candidates on electoral lists must be female. The electoral list is submitted by its chosen ballot representative, who does not have to be present on its electoral list. An electoral list could be declined, after which those who had submitted can fix the deficiencies in a span of 48 hours, or rejected, if the person is not authorised to nominate candidates. The name and date of the election, the names of the electoral lists and its ballot representatives, and information on how to vote are only present on the voting ballot.
Local electoral commissions and polling boards oversee the election. Seats are allocated with an electoral threshold of 3 percent of all votes cast, however if no electoral list wins 3 percent of all votes cast, then all electoral lists that received votes can participate in the distribution of seats. The seats are distributed by electoral lists in proportion to the number of votes received, while the number of seats belonging to electoral lists is determined by applying the highest quotient system. The seats are distributed by dividing the total number of votes received by the electoral list participating in the distribution of seats by each number from one to the number of councillors the local assembly has. The obtained quotients are classified by size so that the electoral list has as many mandates as it has its quotients among the highest quotients of all the electoral lists participating in the distribution. If two or more electoral lists receive the same quotients on the basis of which the seat is distributed, the electoral list that received the greater number of votes has priority. The seats in the local assemblies are awarded to the candidates to their order on the electoral list, starting with the first candidate from an electoral list. When the councillors of a local assembly are sworn in, they in turn elect the mayor.
An electoral list could be declared the status of an ethnic minority electoral list by the local electoral commission. An ethnic minority electoral list could be only submitted by a registered political party or a coalition of political parties of an ethnic minority. If the percentage of the members of that ethnic minority is less than 50% in that municipality, an electoral list could be then granted the status of an ethnic minority electoral list. If the electoral list receives less than the 3 percent electoral threshold of all votes cast, it would still take part in the distribution of seats. When the distribution of seats takes place, the quotients of ethnic minority electoral lists that won less than 3 percent of the votes are increased by 35 percent.
Any local election, whether it is a municipal or a local assembly election, is called by the president of the National Assembly, who also has to announce its date. To vote, a person has to be a citizen and resident of Serbia and at least 18 years old. A voter could only vote in the municipality of their residence. An election silence begins two days before the scheduled election, meaning that no opinion polls, presentation of candidates and their programmes, or invitation to vote in the election could take place.
Election date.
In April 2023, newspaper "Danas" reported that snap parliamentary elections, local elections, Vojvodina provincial election, and the Belgrade City Assembly election could be held as early as in November 2023. At a press conference in July 2023, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia and former president of SNS, said that an early parliamentary election "could take place in September or December if the opposition parties agree. And if not, we will have general elections in April or May 2024, to be held concurrently with the Vojvodina provincial election and the regular local elections". By law, the Vojvodina provincial election and regular local elections could be held as late as 30 June 2024. Darko Glišić, the president of the SNS executive board, stated that the local and provincial elections will be held in the first half of 2024. In August, Vučić said that provincial and local elections will "certainly be held in the next six or seven months", and that "most likely, parliamentary ones will be held as well".
Newspaper "Nova" and news portal "N1" reported in September 2023 that local, provincial, and parliamentary elections could be held as early as 19 December 2023. Vučić and Vučević also held a gathering with officials from Vojvodina on 5 September, with newspaper "Blic" reporting that the official date will be revealed after the 78th United Nations General Assembly, which is set to be held on 18–26 September. In late September, Vučić announced that the elections will be called in December 2023 in order for them to be organised on 4 March 2023. He subsequently announced in September 2023 that they could be held on 17 December 2023.
Following Vučić's announcement that the elections could be held on 17 December, presidents of municipalities such as Smederevo, Leskovac, Kraljevo, Trstenik, and Kučevo resigned, automatically triggering snap elections in those municipalities. Alongside the presidents of municipalities of Smederevo, Leskovac, Kraljevo, Trstenik, and Kučevo, mayors and presidents of municipalities of Belgrade, Kruševac, Pirot, Novi Pazar, Šabac, Topola, Velika Plana, Lapovo, Veliko Gradište, Malo Crniće, Žabari, Petrovac, Žagubica, Bogatić, Vladimirci, Koceljeva, Despotovac, Požega, and Priboj resigned. In total, 65 mayors and presidents of municipalities resigned. Miloš Vučević, the deputy prime minister of Serbia and president of SNS, said in October 2023 that local elections in rest of municipalities will be held in May or June 2024. The government of Serbia sent a proposal to call local elections in 65 cities and municipalities on 30 October. Vladimir Orlić, the president of the National Assembly of Serbia, called the elections on 1 November.
Results and campaign.
Demostat, a research and publishing non-governmental organisation, has reported that opposition parties will have a chance of obtaining good results in large urban areas like Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Niš, and Užice. They have pointed out examples like the formation of a joint opposition alliance in Kragujevac, and that despite not forming a local government, opposition parties won more votes than government parties in the Belgrade City Assembly election in 2022. Đorđe Vukadinović of "Nova srpska politička misao" has argued that opposition parties also have a chance of obtaining good results in Čačak but that in Šabac, Kraljevo, and Zrenjanin, elections could come close. "Although in the rest of Serbia SNS is generally the favourite, it is far from untouchability of previous elections", Vukadinović has said. Srećko Mihailović of Demostat has also said that opposition parties will have smaller chances of winning in smaller municipalities, mainly due to alleged abuse of power in smaller municipalities.
Šumadija and Western Serbia.
Aleksandrovac.
Incumbent Aleksandrovac mayor Mirko Mihajlović of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned in October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Jelena Paunović of the Serbian Progressive Party was chosen as mayor after the election.
Batočina.
Incumbent Batočina mayor Zdravko Mladenović of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned on 30 October 2023 to prompt a new election. A provisional administration was subsequently established with Dejan Aranđelović, also of the Progressive Party, as its leader.
The results of the election were as follows:
Dejan Aranđelović was chosen as mayor after the election.
Bogatić.
Incumbent Bogatić mayor Milan Damnjamović of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned in October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority. Former parliamentarian Dragan Aćimović of the Serbian Radical Party, who had served as deputy speaker in the previous assembly, was also a member of the authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Milan Damnjanović was chosen for a new term as mayor after the election. The Radicals supported the local government; Dragan Aćimović was elected from the lead position on the Radical Party's list and was appointed afterward to a new term as deputy speaker.
Brus.
Incumbent Brus mayor Valentina Milosavljević of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned on 30 October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Dalibor Savić of the Serbian Progressive Party was chosen as mayor after the election.
Ćićevac.
Incumbent Ćićevac mayor Mirjana Krkić of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned on 30 October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Mirjana Krkić was chosen for another term as mayor after the election.
Ćuprija.
Incumbent Ćuprija mayor Jovica Antić of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned in October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Jelena Đulinac of the Serbian Progressive Party was chosen as mayor after the election.
Despotovac.
Incumbent Despotovac mayor Zlatko Marjanović of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned on 30 October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the election were as follows:
Zlatko Marjanović was chosen for another term as mayor after the election.
Knić.
Incumbent Knić mayor Srećko Ilić of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned on 30 October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the elections were as follows:
Srećko Ilić was confirmed for a new term as mayor after the election with the support of seventeen delegates.
Koceljeva.
Incumbent Koceljeva mayor Dušan Ilinčić of the Serbian Progressive Party resigned in October 2023 to prompt a new election and was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
The results of the elections were as follows:
Dušan Ilinčić was confirmed for another term as mayor after the election.
Kragujevac.
Incumbent Kragujevac mayor Nikola Dašić of the Serbian Progressive Party announced his resignation on 28 September 2023 and formally resigned on 30 October, thereby prompting a new election. He was appointed as leader of a provisional authority.
In June 2023, a group