Vucic Still Hasn't Signed Decree, Deadline Is September 10
The president hadn't signed the decree dissolving parliament by the afternoon of September 8, and his deadline runs out the next day. An October 25 vote needs the list form set by September 13.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had not signed the decree dissolving the National Assembly and calling parliamentary elections by the afternoon of September 8, even though the government had sent him its reasoned proposal two days earlier. The 72 hour legal deadline he has to decide runs out during the day tomorrow, September 10, which is also the last possible moment for the election to be called at all for October 25, the date the authorities have set as their target.
As we previously reported, the government’s extraordinary session, at which Prime Minister Djuro Macut submitted the proposal to dissolve parliament, opened on September 7 at 3:30 p.m., and the reasoned proposal was sent to Vucic the same day. Under the Law on the President of the Republic, the president has 72 hours to either sign the decree dissolving the Assembly and calling the election, or notify the government and the public that he rejects the proposal. So far he has done neither.
Why September 10 is the cutoff
The law requires that at least 45 and at most 60 days pass between the day the election is called and the day of the vote. For an October 25 vote, that math makes September 10 the absolute deadline for calling it. The earlier proposed date, October 18, is no longer possible under the same formula: the deadline for that date already passed on September 3.
The election date, however, does not become binding simply because it has been proposed or announced by officials. Under the legal interpretation carried by BT Public News, the decree and the decision calling the election go together, and the voting date only becomes legally binding once that decision is published in the Official Gazette. Vucic had previously said he would call the election on September 9 or 10. A broadcast of his press conference on Nova.rs, at 1:06 p.m. on September 8, noted that the election had still not been officially called.
What starts the moment the decree is signed
The instant the decision calling the election takes effect, a chain of legal deadlines begins. Parties, coalitions, and citizen groups can then start collecting certified voter signatures: 10,000 signatures are required for an electoral list, and 5,000 for a national minority list. Signatures are certified by a notary or at a municipal or city administration office, and where there is no notary, at the basic court, a court unit, or the court’s reception office. One change from earlier election cycles is that a single voter can now put their signature behind more than one electoral list.
The Republic Election Commission (RIK) is expected to set the form for submitting electoral lists on September 13, meaning lists cannot officially be filed before that date.
“The campaign will run for at least 45 days. If the election is held on October 25, the Republic Election Commission should set the form for filing lists on September 13, which means lists could only start being filed from that date,” said Angela Trajkovic of the CRTA legal team.
Trajkovic added that before that, every list must first collect the required number of signatures, and that RIK then has 48 hours from the moment of filing to certify a list, reject it, or send it back to the submitter for corrections if signatures or other documents are missing.
Filing deadline for lists: same law, two different dates in the media
The legal deadline for submitting electoral lists to RIK is 20 days before the vote, but sources translate that into different calendar dates. Nova.rs, in its article on the procedure, gives October 5, while the same outlet, quoting Trajkovic, gives October 4. BT Public News matches the second figure and also writes October 5. The consolidated electoral list, the final roster of all certified lists, must be published no later than 15 days before the vote, meaning by October 10.
A similar inconsistency surrounds the closing of the voter register. The law states the register closes 15 days before the election, which for October 25 works out to October 10. Nova.rs, in an article from September 7, cites that exact date, while an earlier article from the same outlet, quoting Trajkovic, mentioned October 9, likely a calculation slip in the quote itself rather than a change in the law.
Two other, separate deadlines around polling stations should also be kept apart. According to Nova.rs, local election commissions must determine polling stations no later than 10 days after the decision calling the election takes effect, that is, from the moment it is published in the Official Gazette, not from the day of the vote. Separately, members of polling boards must be appointed no later than 10 days before the vote itself. BT Public News, for its part, writes that the list of polling stations is published no later than 20 days before the vote, a third and again different step in the same chain.
What happens on election day and after
Election silence begins at midnight on October 23, 48 hours before polling stations open. Voting takes place on October 25, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The new Assembly’s first session must be held no later than 30 days after the final results are proclaimed, and until then the outgoing Assembly handles only current and urgent business.
If the vote does take place on October 25, it will be Serbia’s 15th parliamentary election since the introduction of the multi-party system, and its 11th early election. For comparison, at the previous election, on December 17, 2023, voting took place at 8,227 polling stations, about 6.5 million voters were registered, about 3.8 million turned out, and turnout stood at 58.77 percent. Whether this year’s calendar actually begins tomorrow depends on whether Vucic signs the decree before his 72 hour deadline runs out.
