Serbia Votes As Student Movement Challenges Vucic’s Rule

Serbians went to the polls on Sunday in a closely fought parliamentary election that could end 14 years of rule by Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). After two years of protests, students are moving from the streets to the ballot box, running under the Student List. The limited polling available points to a tight race between the two camps.

From Tragedy to Movement

The protests began after a concrete canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, killing 16 people. The disaster fueled widespread anger over alleged corruption, poor construction standards and a lack of accountability for public infrastructure projects. Protesters accused the government of allowing corruption and political patronage to put public safety at risk, claims the authorities reject.

What started with university students staging blockades and marches soon won support from teachers, farmers and other parts of Serbian society. Calls for justice over the disaster grew into a broader challenge to Vucic’s hold on power and became Serbia’s largest movement since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

Vucic’s Toughest Test

The SNS won parliamentary elections in 2012 and has dominated Serbian politics ever since. Vucic became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017. After calling snap elections last month, he resigned as president on September 27 to run for prime minister. His second presidential term was due to end in May 2027, and the constitution bars him from serving a third.

Critics accuse Vucic of concentrating power, undermining independent media and weakening democratic institutions, allegations he and his party deny.

The Main Players

The election commission approved 18 electoral lists competing for the 250 seats in parliament. Voters choose a single list rather than individual candidates, and each list can include up to 250 candidates.

• United Serbia (Aleksandar Vucic): The SNS-led list is campaigning on economic growth, higher wages and pensions, infrastructure investment and political stability. SNS leader Milos Vucevic has promised 4% economic growth in 2027.
• Student List (Students Win): The anti-corruption movement that emerged from the Novi Sad protests is campaigning for accountability and transparent public procurement. It presents itself as an alternative to both the ruling party and the established opposition. The Democratic Party and the Kreni Promeni movement chose to back it instead of running their own lists.
• Socialist Party of Serbia (Ivica Dacic, Factor of Stability): A longtime SNS ally, the pro-Russian SPS leads a coalition with United Serbia, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia and the Greens of Serbia. It campaigns on social justice, workers’ rights, welfare, stability and national interests.
• European Serbia: A pro-European opposition alliance led by Marinika Tepic and Zdravko Ponos, including the Party of Freedom and Justice, Serbia Centre, and the Solidarity, Self-Defense and Liberation movement. It supports closer European integration, sanctions against Russia and democratic reforms.

What Voters Care About

Corruption and government accountability have dominated the campaign since the Novi Sad disaster. Protesters accuse Vucic and his allies of corruption, controlling the media and mistreating demonstrators, which the authorities deny. Living standards, economic development and the fairness of the vote are also key issues. Several irregularities were reported during the campaign, and observers have raised concerns about whether the vote will be fair.

How the Vote Works

A total of 6,451,292 citizens are eligible to vote. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), and anyone still waiting in line at closing time must be allowed to vote. In the previous parliamentary election, about 3.8 million people voted, a turnout of roughly 59%. Analysts note that turnout figures are pushed down by the large number of registered voters who live abroad.

Serbia has no exit polls. Election monitoring groups CRTA and CeSID are expected to release their first projections after 9:30 p.m., based on results from a sample of polling stations.

What Is at Stake

A win that makes Vucic prime minister would extend his leadership and would likely preserve Serbia’s balancing act between its goal of joining the European Union and its close ties with Russia and China. A defeat could open the way to sweeping reforms, including stronger institutions and tougher anti-corruption measures. With the race expected to be close, the shape of the next government, and how quickly it can be formed, remains an open question.

The vote is being closely watched in Europe. Serbia is an EU candidate country, but its path to membership has stalled in recent years because of a lack of progress on the fundamental criteria and a decline in the rule of law. Vucic has also kept close ties with Moscow and refused to join Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The election comes six months after Peter Magyar defeated Vucic’s ally Viktor Orban in Hungary.