The vote counting process in North Macedonia's local elections is nearing completion, with 99.94% of votes processed in 3,472 out of a total of 3,474 polling stations, according to official data from the State Election Commission (SEC).
Preliminary results show a landslide victory for VMRO-DPMNE, which has secured the leadership of 34 municipalities, while leading in 19 more that are going to the runoff. Among the Albanian parties, the VLEN coalition has managed to win 5 municipalities and ranks first in the runoff race in 4 others.
According to electoral rules, a candidate is declared the winner in the first round only if he receives over 50% of the votes. Otherwise, the elections are repeated in a second round on November 2, where the two candidates with the most votes face off.
The elections were held in 3,474 polling stations across the country, where 1,832,415 citizens were eligible to vote.
