BELGRADE, April 2. /TASS/. Voting at Sunday’s presidential elections in Serbia is over as all polling stations closed at 20:00 local time (21:00 Moscow time).
Under Serbia’s national constitution, final results of the polling are to be announced within four days after the closure of polling stations.
A total of 11 candidates are vying for Serbia’s presidency. The country’s current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is the favorite of the election rush. Most analysts do not doubt his victory. The only thing they are arguing about is whether Vucic would gain more than 50% of the vote in the first round, or the country would have to hold a runoff vote.
According to a public opinion poll released by Ipsos pollster several hours before the beginning of the day of silence preceding the voting day, Vucic can count on support from 54.3% of voters. He is followed by former ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, who enjoys support from 12.8% of voters.
As many as 1,995 local observers and 126 foreign observers from 25 organizations, election commission and embassies monitored the elections. Vasily Likhachev, a member of the Russian Election Commission who leads the delegation of Russian observers, told TASS earlier Russian observers had registered no violations at the elections in Serbia.
The Republic’s Central Election Commission said more than 6.7 million people are legible to participate in the voting.
The Serbian president is elected for a five-year term and cannot hold the office more than twice. The head of state represents the country in the international affairs, nominates a prime minister who is to be approved by the parliament. The president also signs laws or vetoes them, to appoints ambassadors, issues pardons and awards, and is the country’s supreme commander-in-chief.