RIK Sets Final Voter Count at 481,785 for Minority Councils
Serbia's Republic Electoral Commission set the final number of voters for the national minority council elections and raised the number of ballots from 481,157 to 482,849.
A total of 481,785 voters will be eligible to cast ballots in the direct elections for members of national minority councils, scheduled for November 8, 2026. The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) set the final figure at its 77th session on November 6, after the special voter register was closed. At the same session it raised the number of ballots to 482,849.
The session was chaired by RIK deputy chair Marko Jankovic.
Why did the number of ballots change?
The commission adopted a decision amending its earlier decision on the number of ballots. Instead of the originally planned 481,157, it will print 482,849 ballots, which is 1,064 more than there are voters. The stated reasons are that the final voter count was determined after the original decision, and that RIK is required to keep a reserve of 0.5 percent in ballots.
We previously reported that 949 polling stations had been designated for these elections, that 52 lists had been certified, and that the deadline for entry in the special voter register expired on November 4. The final voter count is the figure that was still missing.
How many voters does each council have?
The decision covers the 21 national councils that are elected directly. The final number of voters by council:
- Bosniak: 114,777
- Hungarian: 108,974
- Roma: 60,979
- Albanian: 37,759
- Slovak: 26,044
- Croatian: 22,863
- Vlach: 21,046
- Romanian: 20,347
- Bulgarian: 15,743
- Montenegrin: 11,230
- Macedonian: 9,368
- Rusyn: 6,933
- Bunjevac: 6,595
- Greek: 3,752
- Egyptian: 3,554
- Ashkali: 2,906
- Slovenian: 2,856
- Ukrainian: 2,237
- German: 2,026
- Czech: 1,498
- Polish: 298
The 21 figures add up to exactly 481,785. The Bosniak and Hungarian councils have the most voters, and the Polish council the fewest, with 298 registered.
Only those entered in the special voter register of a national minority, which is kept separate from the general voter register, are entitled to vote in these elections.
What else did the session decide?
Later in the session, RIK members adopted a decision amending the decision on forming a working body of the commission for the Belgrade city municipalities of Barajevo, Lazarevac, Obrenovac, Rakovica, Sopot and Cukarica, as well as a decision on compensation for the administrator of the Republic Electoral Commission’s website.
