A little over 2,883,000 Croats are eligible to vote today in the second round of local elections and elect the mayors of Zagreb, Split and Rijeka for the next four years, reports the HINA agency, quoted by BTA.
In addition to the mayors of the three largest cities in Croatia, voters will also elect 12 district governors, 44 mayors and 62 heads of municipalities.
The mayors of Zagreb, Split and Rijeka - Tomislav Tomašević (candidate of the green-left platform "We Can", supported by the largest opposition party – the Social Democratic Party), Ivica Puđak (from "Centre") and Marko Filipović (independent), are running for re-election. Their rivals are the independent candidate Marija Selak Raspudić, Tomislav Šuta (Croatian Democratic Community) and the independent Iva Rinčić, respectively.
Among the other cities where a mayor will be elected in the second round are Pula, Dubrovnik, Šibenik, Karlovac and Sin.
The outcome of the mayoral race in the cities of Zadar and Vukovar will also be closely monitored, HINA points out, adding that the candidates in 12 districts also had very close results in the first round.
In the second round of the elections for district governors, mayors and municipal leaders, the candidate with the most votes will win. If both candidates receive exactly the same number of votes, which has happened before, a third round will be held. This happened in the 2021 elections. in the municipality of Kralevec na Sutli, HINA recalls.
Since the second round is being held at the end of an extended weekend, it will be interesting to see whether this will further reduce the already low voter turnout. Only 43.5 percent of voters participated in the first round, the agency said.
The second round is being held in 405 cities and municipalities, in 4,980 polling stations, which will open at 7:00 a.m. local time and close at 7:00 p.m.
Around 5,500 observers will monitor the elections.
After the polls close on Sunday, Croatia will conclude its fourth election in just over a year. After that, voters will have a three-year break from voting. In April 2024, Croatians voted for a new parliament, in June 2024 – for members of the European Parliament, in January this year - for the president of the republic, and this month - for new local authorities, the agency recalls.