Skopje, 8 May 2024 (MIA) - Polling stations on Wednesday’s second round of the presidential runoff and parliamentary elections open at 7 am and will close at 7 pm.

The State Election Commission (SEC) told MIA that there have been no problems reported so far regarding the opening of polling stations.

In the second round of the presidential elections on May 8, there are 1.814.317 eligible voters, while 1.815.350 citizens can vote in the parliamentary elections on the same day.

A day before the vote, on Tuesday, the first to vote at the elections were the infirm, inmates, persons in retirement homes, as well as nationals registered to vote in the diaspora who were only eligible to vote in the presidential elections.

The SEC reported that the overall voter turnout abroad for the presidential elections until 7:00 pm stands at 652 voters, representing 25.38%. The SEC noted that this turnout does not include seven polling stations where voting is still ongoing due to the time zone difference. In the diaspora, voting for the parliamentary elections did not take place due to the insufficient number of registered voters required to conduct the voting.

On Tuesday, at a total of 14 polling stations in penitentiary institutions, 2,147 voters were able to exercise their voting rights for the presidential elections, and 2,140 voters for the election of members of parliament.

"The voting there proceeded without any problems, and by 7:00 pm, according to information from the election boards, 1,298 voters, or 60.46% of those registered, voted for the presidential elections, and 1,397 voters, or 68.72%, for the parliamentary elections," the SEC said in a press release.

Moreover, 534 voters accommodated in 20 out-of-family care centres will exercise their right to vote, including two internally displaced individuals.

“From a total of 534 voters across 20 centers, 401 voters, making up 75.09%, cast their ballots for presidential elections, while 400 voters from the same centers, representing 74.91%, voted in the parliamentary elections,” according to the SEC.

The State Election Commission said that for the presidential elections, 8,926 infirm persons voted, while 10,036 persons voted for the parliamentary elections.

The SEC said that the presidential runoff and the parliamentary elections will be monitored by 1,303 domestic and 860 foreign observers, along with 83 foreign journalists.