RIK: 6,450,523 voters, ballot printing starts Monday

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) announced that Serbia has 6,450,523 voters for the parliamentary election called for October 25, based on the state of the register on October 9, 2026. It made the decision at its 52nd session, held on Saturday, October 10, which according to Telegraf lasted almost six hours. The same session ordered that as many ballots be printed as there are voters, with printing to begin on Monday, October 12, at noon.

We have already reported that the voter register was closed and that extracts from it are arriving at RIK. Now the total is known, along with what the ballots will look like and when printing first starts.

Who determined the number of voters?

The Commission did not calculate the number itself. The President of the Republic called the election on September 9, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government closed the single voter register by decision 15 days before election day. The decision states the total number of voters for each local government unit and each polling station, and it must reach RIK within 24 hours. RIK Chairman Vladimir Dimitrijevic described it at the session this way:

“The Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government did exactly that. It delivered to the Commission the ministry’s decision establishing the total number of voters in the single voter register, by polling station, a total of 6,450,523 voters, as of the day the register was closed.”

Dimitrijevic added that the Ministry determines the voter register, while RIK is obliged to publish it. Answering questions about voting abroad, he said that 102,147 voters have registered for 93 polling stations outside the country.

What are the Commission members’ objections?

Three RIK members expressed doubt about the figures, and Tanasije Marinkovic announced he would not vote for the decision.

• Jelena Vranjes pointed out that the number of voters in Novi Sad for the parliamentary election differs from the number for the city’s local elections, by about 10,000.
• Tanasije Marinkovic said he cannot believe the figures presented and that he had expected the report on the revision of the voter register at the beginning of September. According to him, some members of the register revision commission speak of a complete mismatch between different records.
• Sofija Mandic cited the September report of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which, as she put it, points to an unusually high number of voters in certain places. In her words, the number of voters is almost equal to the population of Serbia, and members of the revision commission had no access to the figure for the number of adult citizens.

Vreme notes that the 2022 census recorded 6,647,003 residents, excluding Kosovo and Metohija. The difference from the number of voters is 196,480.

How many ballots are printed, and in what form?

RIK decided to print 6,450,523 ballots. Dimitrijevic said that this number may change until the final number of voters is determined.

The ballots are printed in 29 language variants, depending on the languages and scripts in official use in individual municipalities and cities. Dimitrijevic explained the formats this way:

“There are three variants: ballots in Serbian, on A4 paper; ballots in two and three languages or scripts, in A3 format; and in four or five languages or scripts, in A2 format.”

When and where does ballot printing start?

Printing starts on Monday, October 12, 2026, at noon, at the printing house of the public company Official Gazette, at Lazarevacki drum 13-15 in Belgrade. Dimitrijevic announced it at the session, and RIK confirmed the same in a written notice. The Commission chairman, secretary Srdjan Smiljanic, RIK members and observers authorized to monitor the work of election bodies will attend. Media are invited to follow the start of printing, and accreditation requests go to infosluzba@parlament.rs by 10 a.m. on Monday.

What else did the session decide?

RIK members rejected as unfounded two objections from the Student List: one against the decision on setting polling stations abroad, and one against the decision on the opening and closing times of voting at those stations. The session also adopted decisions on dismissals and appointments in local election commissions, as well as a decision on the powers of RIK coordinators.

A proposed instruction on keeping records of voters who vote outside the polling station was not adopted. Commission member David Krstic, explaining the proposal on behalf of the initiative’s signatories, said:

“The essence of the instruction is that a uniform record is kept of voters who apply to vote outside the polling station, both in the local election commission and in the polling board on voting day. That record will contain data on the voter, and also on a third person, if that person registered the voter.”

RIK member Vladimir Dragas said that during the coronavirus pandemic two percent of voters registered to vote outside the polling station, while outside that period the average is about four percent, with some places reaching as high as eight. In his words, this points to abuse, and some voters were surprised to learn they had been registered.