Skopje, 31 October 2025 (MIA) - The head of the State Election Commission (SEC), Boris Kondarko, urged candidates and media to respect the election silence period ahead of Sunday’s local elections runoff, and called on all citizens to freely exercise their right to vote. 

“According to the electoral rules, they must respect the electoral silence which begins after midnight tonight... We also want to appeal to all citizens to freely exercise their right to vote, to go out and cast their ballots. Voting is personal and secret,” Kondarko said at an SEC session on Friday.

Kondarko noted that on Saturday, when the sick and infirm, inmates, and persons in retirement homes will be able to cast their ballots, the SEC will publish turnout figures on three occasions during the day. The result of the vote will not be published on Saturday, and the votes will be counted alongside the rest of the votes after polls close on Sunday.

On Sunday, the SEC will publish turnout figures every two hours. It will hold a press conference after polls close at 7 PM with turnout figures by 6:30 PM. The initial unofficial results will be published successively on the SEC’s website as they arrive. Kondarko said he expects the Commission to hold its final press conference with results for all municipalities around 11 PM on Sunday.

The first official results of the vote will be published on Monday afternoon, when the deadlines for complaints also begin. 

MIA file photo