Serbia votes in snap election as turnout tops 64% and students challenge Vučić

Turnout climbs through the day

Serbia held a snap parliamentary election for 250 seats on Sunday, 25 October 2026, and polling stations closed at 20:00 local time. The electoral commission said turnout had reached 64.89% of roughly 6.4 million eligible voters by 18:00, the highest for that hour since 1993. Earlier, il Giornale reported turnout of 60.8% at 16:00, a figure it described as not yet final and 13% above the 2023 election.

2026-10-25T13:00

41.1 %

2026-10-25T16:00

60.8 %

2026-10-25T18:00

64.89 %

Data from the article text

The pace was already strong at midday. Watson reported that 41.1% of voters had cast ballots by 13:00, against 26.6% at the same hour in the 2023 election, and long queues formed outside polling stations across the country.

2023 election, 13:0026.6%

2026 election, 13:0041.1%

2023 election, 13:00

26.6 %

2026 election, 13:00

41.1 %

Data from the article text

Two lists and a long-serving leader

Eighteen lists were on the ballot, but the race came down to two. Serbia United, led by outgoing president Aleksandar Vučić, has the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) at its core. Its rival is The Students Win, a list born out of the protests that followed the November 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station, a disaster il Giornale says killed 16 people. VRT NWS described the student list as relatively unknown names. Vučić resigned as president in September because the constitution does not allow a third term, and H Kathimerini reports he intends to move into the prime ministership. Il Giornale notes that the SNS has dominated the political scene since 2012.

Warnings of provocation and irregularities

Renew Europe MEP Sandro Gozi, who is also secretary general of the European Democratic Party, warned that people linked to Vučić's SNS could be mobilised to provoke clashes around 21:00, when the first projections were due. He argued that fear of losing the vote was driving that risk, and said Vučić would answer personally if such groups were sent into the streets. He called on Serbian authorities to protect voters and observers, starting with students.

“The future of the Serbs must be decided by the ballot box, never by violence.”

Independent observers also reported problems. The CRTA observer group reported numerous signs of vote buying and intimidation. At one polling station in New Belgrade, a 22-year-old female student working as an independent monitor saw a woman photograph her ballot inside the booth, which the woman denied, a act that can be used to prove to a vote buyer how someone voted. The same monitor said officials gave way after a dispute over new booths that can be fully closed, and the observers fixed the curtains in place with rubber bands. Elsewhere, a man found a stranger registered at his address who had already voted, and it remains unclear whether this amounts to fraud. VRT NWS also reported irregularities and some violence at polling stations.

What comes next

Polls closed at 20:00 and exit polls were banned, so the outcome would take several more hours to become clear, il Giornale reported. VRT NWS expected results later on 25 October. The sources do not yet give seat counts, so it remains unclear how the 250 seats will split between Vučić's list and the student list, or whether his plan to take the premiership can proceed.

The timeline runs from the 13:00 turnout reading to the first projections expected around 21:00.