Two days after local elections in North Macedonia, the initial celebratory mood has faded as political parties shift their focus to the second round of voting on November 2 and analyze first-round results that revealed worrying trends.
More than half of eligible voters chose to stay home, while the number of invalid ballots nearly doubled compared to the previous local elections in 2021.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), of the 885,085 citizens who cast their votes, 53,713 ballots — or 6.1% — were declared invalid. In the capital Skopje alone, 12,270 invalid ballots were recorded.
In comparison, 11,472 invalid ballots were registered in the 2017 local elections for mayors, and 13,367 for municipal councils. The figure rose to 37,859 in 2021, while the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections saw 24,305 and 27,127 invalid votes, respectively.
Of the 1.83 million registered voters, turnout stood at 48.3%. In four municipalities — Gostivar, Mavrovo-Rostuša, Vrapčište, and Centar Župa — voter turnout failed to meet the legal minimum of one-third, meaning the first round will be repeated within 60 days of the final results being announced.
The elections confirmed growing voter apathy and a decline in party mobilization. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party won over 301,000 votes — nearly two and a half times more than the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), which secured around 125,000.
“VMRO-DPMNE is the absolute winner with results 50% better than in 2021, winning mayoral races in 33 municipalities in the first round,” the party said in a statement. SDSM countered that VMRO-DPMNE had lost 140,000 votes compared to the 2024 parliamentary elections, significantly narrowing the gap between the two rivals.
The left-wing Levica party won more than 57,000 votes, while the new party ZNAM secured over 38,000. The “Experience for Success” coalition — made up of GROM, LDP, Integra, and PCER — received around 13,000 votes.
Political analyst Sefer Selimi said that “euphoria is a short-lived emotional state of exaggerated joy and triumph,” adding that parties must now confront the reality of low turnout and declining voter trust.
In the ethnic Albanian political bloc, the struggle for dominance continues between the opposition Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) and the governing coalition VLEN. DUI and its partners from the “AKI” alliance won around 114,000 votes, while VLEN received over 91,000. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the two coalitions had won 137,561 and 107,081 votes respectively.