Serbia sees highest voter turnout in decades as students challenge Vucic

Polling stations closed in Serbia on Sunday after a snap parliamentary election pitted President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) against a student-backed movement born out of nationwide anticorruption protests. The State Election Commission reported turnout of 64.9 percent by 17:00 GMT, the highest since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, though turnout alone did not indicate which side had gained support. Monitors reported pressure on voters or election workers at nearly a third of the 500 polling stations they observed, failures to protect ballot secrecy, and about 260 potential irregularities reported to CeSID. Riot police deployed near the election commission’s headquarters in Belgrade, where roads were closed and barricades erected.