Serbia voter turnout highest in decades as students oppose longtime leader

Polls have closed in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election, which saw the highest voter turnout in decades, with a student-backed movement seeking to unseat longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic.

Voting ended at 8pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday, with first indications of the result expected a few hours later.

The vote will determine whether Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has governed since 2012, can retain power against a movement born from nationwide anticorruption protests.

The State Election Commission said that voter turnout had reached 64.9 percent by 17:00GMT, ⁠⁠the ⁠⁠highest since ⁠⁠the breakup ‌‌of Yugoslavia in ‌‌1992.

The higher turnout does not show which side gained support.

University of Belgrade researcher Jelena Vasiljevic told Al Jazeera in an interview published on Friday that the SNS had a reliable voter base, while the students needed to attract people who normally did not vote.

Sunday’s voting was also marked by reports of intimidation and procedural problems.

The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), an independent election watchdog, said its observers recorded pressure on voters or election workers at almost a third of the 500 polling stations it monitored.

It also reported failures to protect ballot secrecy.

By 5pm (16:00 GMT), the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), an election-monitoring group, had received about 260 reports of potential irregularities, including ballot photography, group voting and difficulties with identification checks.

In Belgrade, police wearing riot helmets and carrying shields deployed near the election commission’s headquarters, where roads were closed and barricades erected.

City prosecutors appealed on Sunday for everyone involved in the election to avoid violence.

The election follows nearly two years of student-led protests that began after a railway station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people.

Demands for accountability widened into a movement against alleged government corruption and repression. Vucic and the SNS deny those accusations.

The Student List – Students Win, which emerged from demonstrations, is fielding candidates drawn from professions, including medicine and education, many of whom have no political experience.

The movement campaigns for stronger institutions and an end to corruption.

Some established opposition parties have backed the students rather than field candidates of their own.

Vucic resigned as president in September to run for prime minister, promising higher pensions, public-sector wages and investment.

Supporters credit his rule with modernising Serbia’s economy.

About six and a half million people were eligible to vote for 250 parliamentary seats, with 18 electoral lists competing. A majority of 126 seats is needed to form a government.