Serbia opened polling Sunday for a snap parliamentary election, Anadolu reported. The vote gives registered voters the chance to elect members of the National Assembly, the report said. [E4] [E5] [E6]
The opening is the next step in a contest the paper last covered on 28 September: Aleksandar Vucic resigned from the presidency to seek the prime minister’s post in the 25 October snap election. [E7]
According to AP, voters can choose among 18 parties hoping to enter the 250-member Parliament. The outlet said the election had taken shape as a referendum between Vucic’s right-wing Serbian Progressive Party and the youth-backed Students’ List. [E1]
The main contenders were believed to be polling neck and neck, AP said, making Sunday’s election the most uncertain in recent years. High turnout was expected and could push most smaller parties below the 3% threshold required for representation in the assembly, the outlet reported. [E2]
The two reports put the electorate at different figures: AP reported 6.4 million voters and Anadolu reported 6.45 million registered voters. AP said recent elections had been marred by irregularities and that the European Union was watching the conduct of Sunday’s vote in a country seeking membership of the bloc. [E1] [E3] [E5]