In Serbia, polling stations opened on Sunday, 25 October 2026, for extraordinary parliamentary elections in which citizens are choosing a new term of the National Assembly. Polling stations opened at 07:00 and will operate until 20:00, when closing and the start of preliminary result estimates are expected.
According to final data from the Republic Election Commission, 6,451,292 voters are entitled to vote, and voting is taking place at a total of 8,392 polling stations. Of these, 29 polling stations are located in penal institutions, while 93 polling stations have been opened abroad, in 37 states, where 102,147 voters have registered to vote. Voting abroad is organised according to time in Serbia, which means that in some states, such as the US and Australia, voting takes place during the night. Ballots have been printed in 29 language versions, and voters from Kosovo will vote at 60 polling stations in Raška, Tutin, Vranje and Kuršumlija.
A total of 2,418 candidates from 18 electoral lists are competing for 250 parliamentary seats in the Assembly of Serbia. Half of the electoral lists have minority list status, and the electoral threshold for entering parliament is three per cent, while a natural threshold applies to national minority lists. Nine electoral lists have the status of national minority lists, but among them there is no separate list for the Croatian national minority. Among the lists are "Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia", "Ivica Dačić – Factor of Stability", "Student List – Students Win", "Rasim Ljajić – Human (SDP-CDP)", "Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians – Dr. Balint Pastor", "Usame Zukorlić – Movement for Unification", "Russian Party – Serbia in BRICS – Slobodan Nikolić", "Authentic Right – Dr. Miloš Jovanović – Boldly Serbian", "European Serbia – Marinika Tepić – Zdravko Ponoš", "SDA of Sandžak – Guardians of Sandžak", "Bogoljub Karić – Movement of Serbia's Forces – BK", "Liberal Green Party – For a Freer and Cleaner Serbia", "I Choose Justice – I Choose the Future", "Party of Russian-Serbian Unity – Russians and Serbs are Brothers Forever", "Dad, this is for you – Petar Đurić – Prime Minister of Serbia", "Vladimir Gajić – Alternative for Serbia", "Albanian Coalition" and "Mother Serbia – Gruda".
According to data from the monitoring organisation CRTA, 19.8 per cent of voters had voted by 10:00, with a margin of error of ±0.6 percentage points. In the 2023 parliamentary elections, 9.8 per cent of voters had voted by 10:00. According to data from CeSID and Ipsos published by Europe Elects, 12 per cent of voters had turned out at polling stations by 09:00, while in 2023, 5.2 per cent of voters had voted by 09:00. In 2022, turnout by 09:00 was 5.1 per cent, and in 2020 and 2016, 5.2 per cent of voters had voted in the same period. In 2014, 5.3 per cent of voters had voted by 09:00. According to estimates by IPSOS and CeSID, based on 94 per cent of the processed sample, 12 per cent of voters had voted by 09:00, and in the 2023 elections, 5.3 per cent of voters had voted by 09:00, RTS reports.
The electoral process will be monitored by a total of 16,271 observers from 26 domestic associations and 57 foreign organisations and associations, among whom are 622 international observers. The movement Kreni-Promeni will have the most observers, with 2,414, while MIM will have 2,407 observers, IT Blokada 1,622, Crta 1,448, Guardians of Victory 1,314, Citizens on Watch 1,250, Cesid 945, Erudita 837, Zapis 702, People's Will 650, and New Generation 606 observers. These are the 15th parliamentary elections since the introduction of the multi-party system in Serbia, of which 11 have been early elections. The electoral silence lasts until the closing of polling stations at 20:00, and the first preliminary estimates of results are expected on Sunday evening, by 22:00.
Ahead of the extraordinary parliamentary elections, former members of the police and security services called on colleagues to act in accordance with the Constitution and the law and not to allow political pressure to influence their work. Queues began to form at polling stations in Serbia before opening, and crowds were recorded in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Pančevo. Aleksandar Vučić, the leader of the "United Serbia" list, arrived at his polling station in Novi Beograd accompanied by his wife Tamara. An uncertain race is expected between the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of Aleksandar Vučić and the Student List – Students Win. The Student List brings together 250 candidates, among whom are university professors, scientists, doctors, academicians, economists, lawyers, actors and other public figures.
The political crisis in Serbia deepened after the tragedy in Novi Sad, where on 1 November 2024, 16 people died in the collapse of a canopy at the renovated railway station. Students launched months-long faculty blockades and mass protests after the tragedy, demanding accountability for the deaths. Protesters accuse the government of corruption, weakening of institutions and undermining of democratic standards. The final pre-election rally of the student movement was held on Thursday in the centre of Belgrade, where, according to an estimate by the Public Gatherings Archive organisation, around 150,000 people gathered. The Serbian Ministry of the Interior did not publish its own estimate of the number of participants in the final rally. Vučić held his final rally on the same day in a sports hall in Novi Beograd, calling on his supporters for the most convincing electoral victory to date.
Vučić resigned from the presidential office on 27 September, thereby ending his second term before its expiry, and his ambition is to take up the office of Prime Minister again, which he has already held. Part of the Serbian opposition hopes for a repetition of the so-called Hungarian scenario, in which Péter Magyar's Tisza party defeated Fidesz in the April elections and ended Viktor Orbán's long rule.
During the morning, a group of people caused incidents at polling stations in the village of Pukovac, in the municipality of Doljevac in Serbia. The incidents were confirmed to Nova.rs by lawyer Dragana Milutinović and member of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) Jelena Milošević. According to lawyer Milutinović, interference with the electoral process occurred at polling stations 22, 27 and 32 in Pukovac. A member of the electoral committee at polling station 22 was slapped, and three men then entered the polling station and interfered with the electoral process. At polling station 32, about 30 masked men entered and physically and verbally threatened members of the electoral committee, causing voting to be suspended.
