Skopje, 14 October 2025 (MIA) - The October 19 local elections will be monitored by 1,341 observers, including 700 domestic observers and 639 foreign observers, as well as two foreign journalists. The State Election Commission (SEC), which held its 144th session on Tuesday, said it has started distribution of confidential voting material to the municipal election commissions across the country.  

According to SEC president Boris Kondarko, the distribution of the confidential voting material is carried out under the watch of the Ministry of Interior, in line with previously adopted plan and procedures. 

"The voters lists and all ballots will be distributed to all municipal election commissions on Thursday, and the biometric devices will be distributed to all municipal election commissions across the country on Friday, by us, as SEC members, together with employees and all other persons authorized and hired by the SEC," said Kondarko.  

As regards the SEC's work schedule, he noted that after preliminary election results are announced, which are obtained electronically and will be published continuously via live broadcast throughout the election night, the following day, on Monday October 20, the SEC has made a plan for distribution of the original confidential voting material, all minutes from polling stations and all minutes from the voting results by the municipal election commissions, so that the SEC can check them accordingly. 

"On Monday evening, the SEC will announce the preliminary official results based on the original written minutes from each polling station and each municipal election commission," Kondarko noted.

The public will be informed about all the details of the election process, and on Election Day, voter turnout by municipality will be announced every two hours.

At Tuesday's session, the SEC also accepted requests for monitoring the local elections submitted by domestic and foreign organizations. According to SEC member Svetlana Karapetrova, a request for 30 observers has come from the U.S. Embassy in Skopje. The Turkish national television had a request for two journalists, the Wake Up association requested an additional 51 observers, and the National Roma Center and the National Council for Gender Equality requested one additional observer each.

"Accredited observers will receive authorizations and identification badges that they must carry with them when visiting polling stations. Each authorized accredited observer must comply with the code of rules for election observation and the electoral procedure adopted by the SEC," Karapetrova said. 

According to her, the SEC has received requests for a total of 1,341 observers, including 700 domestic observers and 639 foreign observers, as well as two foreign journalists. 

Photo: MIA