Local election campaign starts today

The campaign for local elections, which will be held in Kosovo on October 12, officially begins today and will end on election day, before the opening of polling stations.

In the race for mayors of 38 municipalities and members of local assemblies, 93 political entities are participating: 32 parties, two coalitions, 32 civic initiatives, and 27 independent candidates.

There are 12 Serbian parties and initiatives.

The order on the ballot was determined by a draw, and Serbian parties received the following numbers: 106 – Union, 114 – Kosovo Alliance, 116 – Civic Initiative Roots, 123 – Serbian People’s Movement, 126 – New Face – People’s Justice, 158 – Serbian People’s Unity, 169 – Serbian Democracy, 170 – Serb List, 172 – For Freedom, Justice and Survival, 175 – Civic Initiative North for All, 177 – Justice and Equality, and 188 – Katarina Adjancic (independent candidate).

Among Albanian parties: Alternative got number 103, Self-Determination Movement 105, Democratic League of Kosovo 113, Guxho List 118, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 174, Social Democratic Initiative (Nisma) 186, Democratic Party of Kosovo 191…

The previous regular local elections were held on October 17, 2021, while on April 23, 2023, extraordinary elections were held in four northern municipalities after representatives of Serbs collectively left Kosovo institutions in November 2022. Those extraordinary elections in the north were boycotted by Serbs, turnout was below 3.5 percent, and for the first time, Albanian mayors took office in municipalities with a Serbian majority population.

This time, among Serbian candidates for mayor of North Mitrovica there are seven: Milan Radojevic (Serb List), Branko Veselinovic (Serbian People’s Movement), Marko Jaksic (Civic Initiative North for All), Katarina Adjancic (independent), Nebojsa Milic (New Face – People’s Justice), Aleksandar Arsenijevic (Serbian Democracy), and Nenad Vukmirovic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival).

In Leposavic, there are five Serbian candidates: Zoran Todic (Serb List), Ivan Vuckovic (Civic Initiative Roots), Nenad Radosavljevic (New Face – People’s Justice), Vladimir Radosaljevic (Serbian Democracy), and Vesna Pantovic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival).

In Zubin Potok, six Serbian candidates are competing: Milos Perovic (Serb List), Stevan Vulovic (Kosovo Alliance), Grozdan Bisevac (New Face – People’s Justice), Mirjana Vlaskovic (Serbian Democracy), Milija Bisevac (Serbian People’s Movement), and Gordana Mihajlovic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival).

In Zvecan: Dragisa Milovic (Serb List), Zoran Obrenovic (Serbian Democracy), and Sladjana Pantovic (Union).

In Gracanica: Novak Zivic (Serb List), Goran Marinkovic (Kosovo Alliance), and Igor Rasic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival).

In Strpce: Ivica Tanasijevic (Serb List), Stefan Stamenkovic (Justice and Equality), and Sladjan Nikolcevic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival).

In Ranilug: Tanja Antic (Serb List), Ivan Petrovic (Serbian People’s Movement), Igor Mitic (For Freedom, Justice and Survival), and Bojan Arsic (Kosovo Alliance).

In Klokot: Bozidar Dejanovic (Serb List), Srecko Spasic (Serbian People’s Unity), and Goran Marinkovic (Kosovo Alliance).

In Partes: Dragan Petkovic (Serb List) and Sladjan Mladenovic (Kosovo Alliance).

In Novo Brdo: Sasa Milosevic (Serb List).

In Obilic: Goran Dancetovic (Serb List).

Voters will receive two ballots at polling stations: one yellow, for the election of the mayor, and one blue, listing political entities running in the municipal assembly elections.

The total number of eligible voters is 2,069,098, which is 6,770 fewer than in the parliamentary elections held on February 9 of this year.

Of these, 2,025,105 voters are registered in Kosovo, while 43,993 citizens registered to vote by mail from abroad.

Voting by mail is possible starting September 17.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has invited eligible voters to check the platform to find out where their polling station is for the local elections. The platform will remain active until polling stations close on election day, October 12.

Voting will take place in 938 polling centers, across 2,625 polling stations.