High voter turnout and allegations of manipulation in Serbia

Parliamentary election in Serbia High voter turnout and allegations of manipulation As of: October 25, 2026 • 5:24 p.m

Long queues in front of the polling stations in Serbia: Many people want change. The student movement is counting on success in the parliamentary elections. But President Vucic also has convinced supporters.

Voter turnout in Serbia seems to be very high. According to the independent election observation institute CRTA, around 41 percent of voters had cast their votes by 1 p.m. In the last parliamentary election it was only 26 percent at this point.

This could indicate that the mobilization of the student protest movement is high. You compete with an independent list of 250 experts. The list includes professors, representatives of various professions and civil society.

Voters from the student list were mostly present in front of the polling stations in the city center of the capital Belgrade. A pensioner is convinced that Vucic could be voted out: "I expect changes, drastic changes. The many people who are voting here today have apparently followed the students' call to cast their vote as early as possible."

And a young man says: "We expect that we can change something. Things can't go on like this. This time we have enough election observers so that any voter fraud can be uncovered. The fact that so many people are now voting shows that there are no longer so many undecided people. There is now someone to vote for. In the past, fewer people went to the polls. There was a deliberately created apathy on the part of the government."

Serbia's long-time head of state wants to win the election today and become prime minister. Who is Aleksandar Vucic? more

But there are also convinced Vucic voters: "I expect peace and stability. Things are moving forward in the country and it should continue like this. That will only happen with the current president, Aleksandar Vucic, if he becomes prime minister. I still remember the early 2000s, when I lost my job three times. And as far as the problems related to joining the EU are concerned, let me say that the EU doesn't want Serbia. It's not up to us."

Surveys show head-to-head race in parliamentary elections in Serbia Andreas Bachmann, ARD Vienna, tagesschau, Das Erste, October 25, 2026 • 4:50 p.m. In previous elections in Serbia there were always massive allegations of manipulation and fraud. This time, the students were allowed to send poll observers to each polling station. So we'll take a closer look. Law student Mihailo Dedijer is one of the election observers of the student list at Skadarlija elementary school in downtown Belgrade.

He tells of irregularities at his polling station: "The chairman called the police because we had voters here who had photographed their ballot papers. Then the election observers from Vucic's SNS party came. They told us that the photographing was okay. But we from the student list see it differently. Because that is a violation of voting secrecy. However, the police did not react. They said they had nothing to do with it."

The student protests against Vucic began two years ago. In the election they are running as a collective. more

According to the independent election observation institute CRTA, such photographing of ballot papers was reported in one in four polling stations by midday. We know from the past that public sector employees in particular are heavily dependent on Vucic's SNS party and that they are forced to vote for the SNS and prove it with a photo.

After casting his vote, long-term Serbian ruler Vucic emphasized that everything would be carried out in a clean, democratic manner: "I believe that the democratic will of the citizens will be shown this evening and, as I have always said, you can win and lose elections. We will show ourselves to be responsible. If we lose the elections, we will recognize that. And if we win, then no one will take our victory away from us."

The polls close at 8 p.m. It is unclear what scenario will emerge afterwards. Given the high voter turnout, the students expect a clear victory. If a different result is published, there could be larger protests.

This topic in the program: The First | daily news | Oct 25, 2026 | 4:50 p.m