Skopje, 17 October 2021 (MIA) – Polling stations across North Macedonia on Sunday closed at 7:30 pm after voters finished casting votes in the 2021 local elections. Initially expected to close at 7 pm, polling stations remained open another half an hour allowing voters inside the polling stations to exercise their right to vote. Preliminary results from the voting process are expected around midnight. Earlier, the State Election Commission (SEC) urged for restraint from political activities until 7.30 p.m. so that people who found themselves in polling stations could exercise their right to vote. “The Electoral Code stipulates that voting ends at 7 p.m. With regards to the voters who found themselves in front of the polling stations at that time, SEC believes they should be given the right to exercise their vote, and therefore we urge parties, media and all others to show restraint by 7.30 p.m. We believe this is the best solution,” said SEC president Aleksandar Dashtevski. Voter turnout by 6 pm in Sunday’s local elections is 49.29%, the State Election Commission said citing data sent from polling stations across the country. A total of 1,824,864 voters were eligible to vote in 3,480 polling stations across the country, which opened at 7 am. 299 candidates are vying for mayors and there are 572 lists of candidates running for municipal council members containing a total of 10,532 candidates. The country for the first time is introducing biometric fingerprint devices to identify voters casting ballots in polling stations. The Commission has procured 4,000 devices from the German company “Dermalog” to be distributed to over 3,400 polling stations. Voters’ personal data contained in the electoral roll have been installed in the devices. The local elections are also being held with COVID-19 protection protocols in place in polling stations with voters required to wear face masks and maintain social distancing.