The Republic of Macedonia is an independent, democratic country. The political institutions are constituted by the will of its citizens by secret ballot at direct and general elections. Its political system of parliamentary democracy was established with the Constitution of 1991, which stipulates the basic principles of democracy and guarantees democratic civil freedom:

Sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia derives from the citizens and belongs to the citizens.

The citizens of the Republic of Macedonia exercise their authority through democratically elected representatives, through referendum and through other forms of direct expression.

The fundamental values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Macedonia are the political pluralism and free, direct and democratic elections.

Every citizen on reaching 18 years of age acquires the right to vote.

The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia is a representative body of the citizens and the legislative power of the Republic is vested in it.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia represents the Republic.

The President of the Republic is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Macedonia.

The President of the Republic is elected in general and direct elections, by secret ballot, for a term of five years.

A person may be elected President of the Republic two times at most.

The President of the Republic shall be a citizen of the Republic of Macedonia.

A person may be elected President of the Republic if over the age of at least 40 on the day of election.

A person may not be elected President of the Republic if, on the day of election, he/she has not been a resident of the Republic of Macedonia for at least ten years within the last fifteen years.

A candidate for President of the Republic can be nominated by a minimum of 10.000 voters or at least 30 Representatives.

A candidate for President of the Republic is elected if voted by a majority of the total number of voters.

If in the first round of voting no candidate wins the majority required, voting in the second round is restricted to the two candidates who have won the most votes in the first round.

The second round takes place within 14 days of the termination of voting in the first round.

A candidate is elected President if he/she wins a majority of the votes of those who voted, provided more than half of the registered voters voted.

If in the second round of voting no candidate wins the required majority of votes, the whole electoral procedure is repeated.

If only one candidate is nominated for the post of the President of the republic and he/she does not obtain the required majority of the votes in the first round, the whole electoral procedure is repeated.

From the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia,” Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” num. 52/91; num. 1/92 and num. 31/98.

There are three types of elections in the Republic of Macedonia: general parliamentary elections (held every four years), presidential elections (held every five years), and finally local elections (also held every four elections).

Parliamentary Elections

Ljubco Georgievski voting at the 2002 Elections	Boris Trajkovski voting at the 2002 Elections
Branko Crvenkovski voting at the 2002 Elections	Kiro Gligorov voting at the 2002 Elections

The bodies for carrying out the elections are: the State Election Commission, the election commissions of the election units and the electoral committees.

The public media, founded by the Assembly in cooperation with the State Election Commission are obliged to inform the citizens about the manner and the technique of voting.

Pre-election meetings are public.

The organizer is responsible for keeping the order at the meetings.

The procedure for protection of the right to vote is urgent.

The elections and election procedure may be monitored by representatives of international associations and organizations.

The elections and election procedure may be monitored by representatives of accredited organizations for protection of the human rights and freedom in the Republic of Macedonia.

For obstruction of the elections and balloting, violation and abuse of the right to vote, as well as the violation of the freedom of conviction of the voters, for bribing during the elections and balloting, for destroying the election identifications and for committed electoral deceit, the perpetrator shall be punished by the provisions of the Criminal code.

From the Law on election of the deputies in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia “Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” num. 24/98 and 50/99

Members of the Parliament serve four-year terms (barring early dissolution of the chamber). Since all seats are contested in an election, this is referred to as a general election. The Parliament reflects the population that chose it, both in terms of political support, but also regionally and ethnically. They usually include as wide a cross-section of views as possible.

In the 1998 parliamentary elections, 120 members of the Macedonian parliament were elected by a mixed election system. Specifically, 85 of the deputies were elected according to the majority principle in 85 constituencies, while another 35 of the deputies were elected according to the proportional principle (the territory of the Republic of Macedonia representing one constituency). There were 1.572.976 voters registered in the General Electoral Roll for the election of Representatives in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, assigned in 85 constituencies, in 2.973 polling stations.

For the 85 deputies that were to be elected according to the majority principle, out of 40 registered political parties in Macedonia, 28 parties, eight coalitions and eight private individuals nominated a total of 635 candidates for the 1998 parliamentary elections. A candidate has been elected in the first round only if he or she won the majority of votes (50%+1 of the total number of votes cast) in his or her district, providing that the number of votes won is not less than 1/3 of the total number of registered voters in the district. A candidate won a seat in the parliament in the second round only if no candidate had won the required number of votes in the first round. In that case, the voting was repeated in 14 days (1 of November, 1998) with the two candidates that had won the most votes in the first round in that constituency. The candidate who got the most votes in the second round was elected the representative for that constituency.

For the 35 deputies that were to be elected according to the proportional representation model, 595 candidates on 17 lists were submitted by 12 political parties, four coalitions and one group of voters. The d’Hondt formula was applied for establishing the results of the vote. Lists of candidates which won at least 5% of the votes cast were represented in the Assembly.

In the 2002 parliamentary elections, a new system was implemented for allocating proportional representation seats. The party list system of proportional representation is one of the most commonly used forms of proportional representation elections systems in Europe. Under the party-list system, the elector votes not for a single candidate but for a list of candidates. A different party generally submits each list, though an individual or a coalition can put forward a list. A party (or coalition) will be awarded seats according to the d'Hondt formula based on the total number of votes cast for it and all of the candidates on its list. The seats allocated to each party will then be given to the top-most candidates. Macedonia uses six national districts of similar magnitude to elect the 120 members (20 from each district) of its assembly. Therefore, a list of candidates in Macedonia has no more than 20 candidates.

In the largest average formula, frequently named after its Belgian inventor Victor d'Hondt, the number of votes won by each party is divided by the number of seats held by the party, plus one. The first seat is awarded to the party with the highest number of votes, since, no seats yet having been allocated, the initial denominator is one. When a party wins a seat, its formula denominator is increased by one and hence the party's chances of winning the next seat are reduced. The available seats are awarded one at a time to the party with the greatest average. Party totals are used in the calculations. No transfer of ballots takes place.

Because the number of votes determines who gets elected, a large amount of time and money is necessary for their campaigns. Interestingly, the new proportional representation system has resulted in a number of famous people, such as television personalities and former athletes, appearing on parties' lists of candidates. It is believed that the high name recognition of these celebrities will lead to them receiving a large number of votes, thereby boosting the total number of votes received by the parties they represent.

Elections are repeated only if the electoral commission annuls the voting because of the irregularities stipulated by the law.

Presidential Elections

The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia issues the notice of the election of the President of the Republic of Macedonia.

The term from the day of scheduling the elections till their conduction cannot exceed 90 days, or be less than 70 days.

The election of the President of the Republic is conducted in the last 60 days of the mandate of the former President.

In case of expiration of the mandate of the President, for any reason, the election of new President is conducted within 40 days from the day of expiration of the mandate.

The State Election Commission by drawing of lots sets the sequence of the candidates on the list of candidates for election of president.

The expanses of the election campaign for President of the Republic must not cost more than 15 dears per registered voter on the unique list of voters.

The State Election Commission announces the preliminary results of the conducted elections for President of the Republic within three days of their conduction.

Before taking up office, at the latest within ten days of the day of announcement of the final results, yet no sooner than the day of the mandate cessation of the previous President, the President of the Republic of Macedonia makes a solemn declaration before the Assembly, as follows:

“I declare that I shall perform the function President of the Republic of Macedonia conscientiously and responsibly, I shall respect the Constitution and the laws and I shall protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the Republic of Macedonia”.

From the Law on election of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, “Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”, num. 20/94 9 48/99.

The following sites provide an abundance of information on all these types of elections.

Political and Elections Laws

• Code Setting Forth the Rules and Procedure for Observing the Elections and Election Procedures by Domestic and Foreign Observers
• Law on Election and Recall of Members of the Assembly and Councilors
• Law on Election Districts for Election of Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia
• Law on Election of Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia
• Law on Election of President of the Republic of Macedonia
• Law on Local Elections
• Law on Political Parties
• Law on Voter's Lists

Previous Elections

• Parliamentary Elections 1999 - official site [macedonian, english]
• Presidential Elections 1999 - official site [english]
• Presidential Elections 1999 - unofficial site [english]
• Presidential Elections 1999 Coverage by the Agency of Information - contains abundant info and results of the 1999 elections [macedonian, english]
• Local Elections 2000 - official site [macedonian, english]
• Election Coverage by the Macedonian Information Agency - contains abundant info and results of current and past elections [macedonian, english, albanian]
• State Electoral Comission - official site, contains info and results of current and past elections [macedonian, english]

Political Parties

• DA - official site of the Democratic Alternative [macedonian, english]
• LDP - official site of the Liberal Democratic Party of Macedonia [macedonian, english]
• Macedonian Young Liberal Democrats - official site [macedonian, english]
• LP - official site of the Liberal Party of Macedonia [macedonian, english]
• MAAK-Conservative Party - official site [macedonian, english]
• Rainbow Party - official site of the human rights movement of the Macedonians in Republic of Greece [english]
• SDSM - official site of the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia [macedonian]
• VMRO-DPMNE - official site of VMRO - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity [macedonian, english]
• VMRO-VMRO - official site of VMRO - True Macedonian Reform Option [macedonian, english]