More than 2 million eligible voters in Kosovo are heading to polling stations on Sunday to elect new mayors and local representatives across 38 municipalities.

In a media conference, Central Election Commission, CEC, chairperson Kreshnik Radoniqi stated that as of 11:00 a.m. voter turnout was 7. 84 per cent nationwide, which is slightly lower than the 8.2 per cent turnout recorded in the same period during the previous local elections in 2021.

“There was no report of irregularities that would endanger the voting process,” Radoniqi said.

938 polling centres, with a total of 2,625 polling stations, opened at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, with the CEC confirming that the process began without any major incidents. 

After casting his ballot, Kosovo’s Acting Prime Minister and leader of the Vetevendosje party, Albin Kurti urged citizens to participate in shaping the future of their municipalities.

“We vote to decide on the next four years in our communities. Besides being citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, we are also residents of our municipalities,” Kurti noted.

He delivered his statement in Albanian, Serbian, and English.

President Vjosa Osmani described the election day as, “an important day for Kosovo’s democracy.”

“The higher the turnout and the smoother the process, the stronger our democracy becomes,” she said.

To safeguard the integrity of the elections, the State Prosecutor’s Office has deployed around 100 prosecutors and officials across the country to monitor potential irregularities.

“Approximately 100 state prosecutors and officials from the prosecutorial system have been deployed to address any irregularities that may arise during this year’s local elections,” announced the Prosecutor Office, adding that, “every suspected case of voter fraud or manipulation will be reported immediately.”.

Earlier today Radoniqi declared that technical improvements had been made to avoid the issues seen during the parliamentary elections of February 9, when the results platform suffered repeated disruptions.

“We have upgraded the results system and ensured that all municipal counting centres are fully equipped,” Radoniqi noted.

KALLXO Election Debates Tackle Kosovo Municipalities’ Construction Boom

The Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista is contesting in all ten Serb-majority municipalities: North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, Gracanica, Strpce, Novo Brdo, Klokot, Partes, and Ranilug, as well as in Obilic.

In North Mitrovica, groups of citizens, accompanied by Srpska Lista officials, went to vote collectively—a practice observed in Serb-majority areas during previous elections.

Srpska Lista governed the four northern municipalities until November 2022, when its representatives withdrew from Kosovo’s institutions. Since then, the Serb community has boycotted both the extraordinary elections of April 2023 and the recall votes in 2024, following the party’s calls to do so.

For this election, 5,626 candidates have been certified: 206 for mayoral positions and the rest for municipal assemblies. The race includes 93 political entities, among them 32 parties, 32 citizens’ initiatives, 2 coalitions, and 27 independent candidates. Voters are required to complete two ballots—one for the mayor and the other for the municipal assembly.

In municipalities where no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, a second round will be held on November 9.

A total of 2,069,098 voters are registered in Kosovo, while around 44,000 voters are living abroad and registered to vote by mail. The postal voting process ran from September 17 to October 11.

Polls will close at 19:00 while the preliminary results are expected later this evening.