Skopje, 25 April 2024 (MIA) - Voting at the three polling stations in Kumanovo, where there was an interruption of more than three hours on Wednesday, will not be repeated, as it does not impact the final results. The State Election Commission (SEC) has decided to dismiss the election boards at these polling stations.

At a meeting held Thursday afternoon, it was explained that the election boards did not act in accordance with the instructions of the SEC.

“Based on the received records from the municipal election commissions delivered to the SEC and upon reviewing them, as well as the communication we had yesterday with the municipal election commission in Kumanovo, we determined that the election boards at these three polling stations failed to adhere to the SEC instructions,” Boban Stojanovski from the SEC said.

Additionally, the SEC tasked the legal department with assessing whether there are grounds for holding the election boards accountable.

"We are taking this action not only because there is a legal basis for dismissal, but also because of our legal obligation to uphold legality and to send a clear message to the second round of presidential and parliamentary elections regarding the rights and responsibilities of election authorities. This will serve as a reminder to all election boards that they must carry out their duties responsibly and in compliance with the law,” Boris Kondarko said.

The SEC decided that the election boards on May 8, when the second round of presidential elections and the first round of parliamentary elections will be held, should consist of seven members instead of the current five members, in order to improve efficiency in the organization of work, avoid overcrowding at the polling stations, and minimize the possibility of potential errors.

According to the preliminary official results announced by the SEC this afternoon, the candidates from SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE, Stevo Pendarovski and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, advance to the second round of the presidential elections.

Siljanovska-Davkova garnered 363,086 votes or 40.08%, while Pendarovski secured 180,500 votes or 19.92%. DUI’s Bujar Osmani received 121,088 votes or 13.07%, ZNAM’s Maksim Dimitrievski - 83,856 votes or 9.26%, Arben Taravari from the Worth It coalition - 83,393 votes or 9.2%, Levica’s Biljana Vakovska - 41,331 votes or 4.56 percent, and GROM’s Stevcho Jakimovski - 8,121 votes.

In the first round of voting, 905,971 citizens turned out to vote, representing 49.93%. The total number of unused ballots is 908,384, with a total of 24,562 invalid ballots, or 2.71%.

Complaints about the voting process can be filed with the SEC until Friday at 7 p.m., while complaints regarding the tabulation of election results must be submitted by Friday midnight.

The SEC is obliged to reach a decision within 72 hours of receiving a complaint, while candidates retain the right to appeal to the Administrative Court. The Administrative Court, upon receiving an appeal, must render a decision within 48 hours.

Photo:MIA