Elections in North Macedonia: 2024 Presidential Elections
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On Wednesday, April 24, North Macedonia will hold presidential elections. Elections take place among political tensions within the country, increased disillusionment with democratic reforms, and aspirations of European Union membership.
Ahead of this important electoral process, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) provides Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Elections in North Macedonia: Presidential Elections.
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For more information and details, please find the full FAQs in PDF format.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Republic of North Macedonia will hold presidential elections on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Voting will take place from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. local time in 3,360 polling stations across the country and 31 diplomatic consular offices (DCOs). Voting will be organized the day before Election Day for voters who are homebound due to incapacity or illness; confined to prison, other detention, or house arrest; in non-family-based care institutions; internally displaced; or temporarily employed or residing abroad. If no candidate wins the majority of votes on Election Day, a second round of elections will be held on May 8 for the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round.
Presidential elections in North Macedonia are taking place in a dynamic political environment and a competitive political race. The opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO DPMNE) accused the ruling Social Democrat (SDSM) party of corruption and pressured the government coalition to hold early parliamentary elections. VMRO-DPMNE hand other parties also criticized SDSM for bowing to Greek and Bulgarian demands through the 2018 Prespa Agreement and the passage of a law recognizing Bulgarians as an ethnic minority, respectively. Both moves were related to European Union (EU) accession and proved unpopular among many in North Macedonia as a result of longstanding cultural and ethnic disputes. Tensions have arisen in the SDSM-led governing coalition due to distinct positions among the leadership of the Alliance for Albanians party, a junior coalition partner. In a move to challenge the country’s largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), party leader Arben Taravari chose to run as a presidential candidate for the Albanian coalition European Alliance for Change, breaking from other party heads who wished to support SDSM. Because of this decision, DUI, which many had originally expected to back SDSM’s presidential candidate, decided to field its own nominee, Bujar Osmani. Without support from DUI, SDSM’s hopes that its candidate, incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, could win the presidency in the first round of elections have been squashed.
With EU accession negotiations ongoing since 2022, North Macedonia is pursuing a path toward European integration. The country’s EU accession will be contingent on its implementing of constitutional reforms. Additionally, more progress is needed in the fight against corruption, judicial reform, protection of fundamental freedoms, and several other areas.
Seven presidential candidates have received either the necessary 10,000 signatures or the signatures of 30 members of Parliament (MPs) to stand for the election. The candidates are:
- Stevo Pendarovski of the ruling coalition the Social Democrats (SDSM). Pendarovski was North Macedonia’s coordinator for NATO membership before ascending to the presidency in 2019.
- Gordana Siljanovska Davkova of the main opposition party, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE). Davkova is an MP representing VMRO-DPMNE and was the party’s unsuccessful candidate for president in the 2019 elections.
- Bujar Osmani of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). Osmani currently serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- Dr. Biljana Vankovska Cvetanovska of the Levica party. Cvetanovska is a political scientist who leads the Global Changes Center at Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje.
- Arben Taravari of the Alliance for Albanians is endorsed by the VLEN Coalition (Worth). Taravari is a professor and researcher, as well as the mayor of the municipality of Gostivar. Maxim Dimitrievski of the Movement for Our Macedonia. Dimitrievski currently serves as mayor of Kumanovo and is a former MP representing SDSM.
- Stevco Jakimovski, president of the Citizens Option for Macedonia. In March 2024, he was banned from entering the United States due to corruption accusations.
The presidential election will be held in North Macedonia and diplomatic-consular offices around the world. North Macedonia is a single electoral district using the majoritarian model. The nomination of presidential candidates requires the submission of the signatures of at least 10,000 voters or at least 30 members of Parliament. The president serves a five-year term and is elected by an absolute majority vote through a two-round system (see “When is Election Day?”). In a second round of presidential elections, the candidate who wins most of the votes is elected, if a 40 percent turnout is achieved. The president may be elected for a maximum of two five-year terms.
North Macedonia’s Constitution mandates that the president must be a citizen. A presidential candidate must be over age 40 and must have lived in the country for 10 of the last 15 years on Election Day. A person may only hold the presidency for two five-year terms. What are the campaign expenditure and donation limits?
Election campaign expenditures are limited to no more than 110 Macedonian denar (MKD), roughly €1.80, per voter registered in the electoral district for which the list of candidates has been submitted. Each presidential candidate is required to establish a tax number and open a bank account for the campaign, and the funds not be used for any other purpose. Election campaigns may be financed only from funds from the regular bank account of the party, political party membership fees, donations from private persons of up to the equivalent of €3,000, legal entities of up to the equivalent of €30,000, and political parties’ bank loans earmarked for election campaigns. Anonymous donations; donations from foreign sources; and funds from municipal governments, state-owned companies, religious and charitable organizations, and the media are prohibited.
All campaigns must maintain a registry of expenditures and donations and submit financial reports to the State Election Commission (SEC), State Audit Office (SAO), State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC), and Parliament.
The State Election Commission (SEC) is the primary election management body. It comprises a president, vice-president, and five members. Currently, only two of the seven members are women – less than the required 30 percent. Opposition political parties nominate the president and two members of the SEC, and the ruling political parties nominate the vice-president and three members. Members of Parliament select nominees through a two-thirds majority of votes. Members of the SEC serve five-year terms.
For this election, lower-level commissions include 80 municipal election commissions (MECs), 3,480 election boards (EBs) in North Macedonia, and up to 53 in diplomatic-consular offices. Each MEC consists of five members and their deputies, selected randomly from among public servants. MEC members serve five-year terms. EB members serve four-year terms. Three of the five members of each EB are public servants, and two are political appointees. Each has a deputy.
The SEC, MECs and EBs are responsible for the entire administration of the electoral process, maintaining the voter list and voter registration, counting and tabulating results, resolving election disputes, managing election security arrangements and election observation, and other duties specified by the government. All election management bodies are in charge of safeguarding the legality in the preparation and administration of elections in accordance with the Electoral Code.
Voters with disabilities or who are illiterate can choose a person to assist them in voting. Additionally, election boards are required to facilitate voting for persons with disabilities who cannot enter a polling station. Based on polling station accessibility information on the State Election Commission’s website, persons with disabilities may decide to vote from home or to vote in person, either with assistance or independently.
Voters in non-family care institutions could register to vote in the institution by submitting a request to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy no later than March 18, 2024. They will also vote one day prior to election day.
Each sex should be represented by at least 30 percent of election management body (EMB) members, while ethnic communities that constitute more than 20 percent of the population in a municipality should be represented in lower-level EMBs. The law also calls for the provision of voting materials in any language spoken by more than 20 percent of a municipal population.
Upon receipt of results from the polling stations, Municipal Election Commissions (MECs) enter them electronically and immediately make them available on the State Election Commission (SEC) website. Once MECs submit tabulations, the SEC announces initial results. It announces final results immediately, or not later than 24 hours from the day they become final.
Citizens whose individual voting rights have been violated during the election process may submit a complaint in writing to the State Election Commission (SEC) directly or through the relevant Municipal Election Commission (which forwards it to the SEC) within 48 hours of the time when the violation occurred. The time required to file the complaint begins when the mail is sent. The SEC must then reach a decision within four hours of receiving the complaint, which may be appealed to the Administrative Court within 48 hours of receipt of the decision. The Administrative Court then must render a decision within 48 hours from receipt of the appeal.
In supporting North Macedonia’s ongoing democratic development, IFES delivers targeted assistance to a range of stakeholders – state institutions, political parties, civil society, youth, and citizens – to improve their understanding of the electoral process and international good practices, and to advance the country’s efforts toward credible and well-administered elections, democratic reforms, and political processes. IFES’s long commitment to working with these stakeholders under a range of donors has helped to build and strengthen electoral democracy at the national, regional, and local levels.
These FAQs reflect decisions made by the State Election Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia as of the publication date to the best of our knowledge. This document does not represent any IFES policy or technical recommendations.