After the end of the election process and the closing of the voting centers, the VLEN coalition said through a press conference that they expect victory in the first round in the municipalities of Çair, Tetovo, Saraj, Bogovina, Zhelina and Tearca.
Meanwhile, in the municipality of Çairi, the victory party of the supporters of the ‘Vlen’ coalition and the candidate Izet Mejhiti has started.
“We expect victory in almost every municipality. we are optimistic that in some of the municipalities the race will be closed in the first round. I think this applies to the municipality of Çairi, we are close to victory in the municipality of Tetova in the first round, we also expect the same in the municipality of Saraji, in the municipality of Bogovina, Zhelina and Tearca. We are in the process of collecting information“, announced ‘Vlen’.
Local elections in North Macedonia, which took place today in 80 municipalities and in the city of Skopje, took place in a calm atmosphere, with voter turnout reaching 39.61% by 5:00 p.m., according to official data from the State Election Commission (SEC).
The 3,474 polling stations opened their doors at 07:00 and closed at 19:00, a few minutes ago.
Voting was conducted in secret, using biometric devices to verify the identity of voters.
According to the rules, a victory in the first round requires participation of at least one-third of registered voters and over 50% of valid votes.
Voter turnout: Gradual growth but below 2021 expectations
SEC data show an increase in participation throughout the day of this process. At 11:00, the participation was 9.3%, around 15:00 it reached 31%, while by 17:00, it stabilized at 39.61%.
This figure is slightly lower than in the local elections of 2021, where the final participation was over 50%.
In Skopje, turnout by 15:00 was 31.16%, with municipalities such as Çair (35.30%), Centar (34.40%) and Karposh (33.37%) leading the way in the capital.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported only two arrests in Prilep on suspicion of vote-buying, while the Association of Macedonian Journalists demanded better media access to polling stations after an incident in Karposh.
