After two years of protests – many are voting in Serbia

The state election authority states that 35 percent of those eligible to vote had voted by lunchtime. This can be compared with 21 percent at the corresponding time in the 2023 election, reports the news agency AP.

Although around 18 parties are competing for the 250 seats in parliament, Sunday's election is effectively seen as a referendum between Aleksandar Vucic's nationalist ruling SNS party and the relatively newly formed opposition Student List movement.

The latest polls suggest that the election will be a landslide.

- I expect a very high turnout, Vucic said when he cast his vote in Belgrade in the morning, promising to recognize the election result even if it is a loss.

The student list started as a grassroots student movement against corruption in the wake of a deadly roof collapse in Novi Sad in 2024. The tragedy sparked massive anti-government demonstrations, which in September finally prompted Vucic to call elections.

It takes over 3 percent of the vote to enter parliament.