On Monday, at a press conference at around 10 pm, the State Election Commission (SEC) presented the preliminary official results of the first round. The VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition and VLEN won 33 and four mayoral races as early as the first round, respectively, while SDSM and the DUI-led coalition each won three.
There will be a second round in 33 local self-government units. Voter turnout was 46.63%, that is, 854,620 citizens voted.
VMRO-DPMNE’s Orce Gjorgjievski (89,170 votes) and Levica’s Amar Mecinovic (29,282 votes) will face each other in the second round of the Skopje mayoral race.
When it comes to City of Skopje Council seats, VMRO-DPMNE is the winner, that is, it will have 21 Council members, followed by SDSM and Levica, each with six, the DUI-led coalition and VLEN, each with four, while ZNAM, Experience for Success, Jana Belceva Group of Voters, and Marjan Kalevski Group of Voters each won one seat.
VMRO-DPMNE won as early as the first round in Bitola, Bosilovo, Butel, Vasilevo, Vevcani, Veles, Gazi Baba, Gevgelija, Gjorce Petrov, Kavadarci, Karbinci, Strumica, Kisela Voda, Kratovo, Novaci, Novo Selo, Ohrid, Petrovec, Prilep, and other municipalities, according to Plusinfo’s report.
VLEN will have mayors in Aracinovo, Zelino, Saraj, and Tearce, while the DUI-led coalition, National Alliance for Integration, won in Plasnica, Lipkovo, and Caska. SDSM won the mayoral races in Bogdanci, Kriva Palanka, and Krivogastani.
In Gostivar, Centar Zupa, Vrapciste, and Mavrovo i Rostuse, there will be re-runs within 60 days because the threshold of voter turnout of 33.33% was not met on 19 October. The second round of the local elections will be held on 2 November.