In four municipalities in North Macedonia, Gostivar, Mavrovo and Rostuse, Vrapciste, and Centar Zupa, repeat local elections will be held on Sunday.
During the local elections held in October last year, the required voter turnout of over one-third of the registered voters was not reached in these four municipalities, and therefore, the electoral procedure must start over. In Gostivar, the voter turnout on October 19 was 33.31%, falling just short by around 20 votes to meet the legal requirement for a valid election. In Vrapciste, 25.18% of voters participated, in Mavrovo and Rostuse, 30.31%, and in Centar Zupa, only 21.49%.
The 20-day election campaign concluded on Friday, and voting on Sunday will continue until 7:00 PM local time (8:00 PM Bulgarian time). According to the State Election Commission, the elections have been well-prepared from an organisational and technical perspective, though no observers have been registered for the process.
In three of the municipalities, there are two candidates for mayor, while in Centar Zupa, there is only one mayoral candidate – Arian Ibrahim from the Democratic Party of Turks.
In Gostivar, the mayoral candidates are Nevzat Bejta from the VLEN coalition, a partner in the country’s ruling government, and Valbon Limani from the National Alliance for Integration (NAI), a coalition led by the largest Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration.
In Vrapciste, the candidates are Isen Shabani from NAI and the independent candidate Zulhairat Demiri, while in Mavrovo and Rostuse, the contenders are Oner Yakuposki, supported by the coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE, and Anez Ahmeti, nominated by SDSM.
On the municipal council ballot, the candidates from the VLEN coalition will be listed first, followed by those from the VMRO-DPMNE coalition, NAI candidates in third, and candidates from the SDSM-led coalition in fourth place.
On Saturday, in accordance with the law, voting took place in the municipalities for prisoners, the sick, and those unable to vote in person.
In Gostivar, 82,870 citizens are registered in the voter list, in Mavrovo and Rostuse – 10,575, in Vrapciste – 27,279, and in Centar Zupa, there are 7,562 registered voters.