Repeat Vote Leaves Student List on 140 Seats as Zukorlić’s Party Enters Parliament

The rerun of Serbia’s parliamentary election at 53 polling stations on Sunday did not change the winner, but it did change the arithmetic of the new National Assembly by one seat.

After all 8,392 polling stations were processed, the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) put the Student List on 53.01% of the vote and the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list on 38.98%. Turnout in the 25 October election was 68.89%, or 4,444,310 voters. The gap between the two lists is about 623,000 votes.

One seat moves

On the 53 rerun polling stations, United Serbia came out slightly ahead, with 43.4% against 42.3% for the Student List, according to preliminary figures. That was enough to push the list of Usame Zukorlić’s Justice and Reconciliation Party (SPP) over the line for one seat.

According to the seat projection published by the observer mission CRTA, the Student List will have 140 of the 250 seats, one fewer than in earlier projections, and United Serbia 103. The remaining seven seats go to national minority lists, now including one seat for the SPP. The official allocation of mandates will follow RIK’s final report.

What comes next

The Student List still holds a comfortable majority: 126 votes are needed to elect a government. Once RIK submits its final report, the new Assembly must be constituted within a month, and a government must then be elected within 90 days. Vučić said his list would not obstruct the work of parliament and would take part in the parliamentary contest as opposition.