Skopje, 18 October 2025 (MIA) - Voting at the 2025 local elections begins Saturday with inmates, people in house arrest, sick and infirm homebound people, and people in non-family facilities casting their ballots.

According to the electoral roll, a total of 2.162 prisoners are registered to vote, in addition to those who are under house arrest.

Members of electoral boards will also visit the homes of 8.851 homebound sick and infirm people who have requested to vote from home.

In retirement homes, the State Election Commission said 442 elderly individuals will vote, instead of the initial reported figure of 450. The number decreased by eight after the Ministry of Social Policy, Demographics, and Youth reported the closure of the ARIJA retirement home.

These are the eighth local elections to be held since the country gained its independence. Voting will take place at 3.480 polling stations for 309 mayoral candidates and 576 candidate lists for municipal council members across the country, or a total of 10.490 candidates.

Twenty-two parties, 19 coalitions, and 119 independent options are running in the 2025 local elections.

The busiest mayoral race is the one in the country’s capital, with 16 candidates running for Skopje Mayor.

A total of 1.832.415 voters are registered to vote in the 2025 local elections. Of those, 1.717.803 are registered in the regular voters’ lists, 112.000 are in special excerpts of the voters’ list (those temporarily living or working abroad), 2.162 are in prisons, and 450 are in non-family facilities.

Voting for the rest of the country will begin at 7 AM on Sunday and will last until 7 PM.

The election campaign for the local elections concluded on Friday midnight with the beginning of election silence ahead of the vote.

Election silence rules remain in place until 7 PM on October 19.

MIA file photo