Macedonia to Repeat Elections in Two Polling Stations

A Macedonian court has granted two requests, one from each of the biggest parties, to hold a repeat election in two stations, potentially reshaping the result.

The Administrative Court of Macedonia has ruled in favour of two complaints, by conservative VMRO-DPMNE and socialist SDSM party, setting a new vote on December 25, according to state-run MIA news agency.

Earlier in December, the early vote ended with a narrow win for the conservatives, who have been in power since 2006 and were poised to get 51 MPs in the 120-seat Parliament. SDSM trailed behind at 49 lawmakers.

The elections will be repeated in a section in Gostivar and the village of Tearce.

Both are located in northwestern Macedonia and their population is predominantly ethnic Albanian.

In Tearce, where 700 eligible voters have been registered, SDSM won narrowly as well as in Tetovo district, of which the village is part. However, it filed a complaint on voting irregularities.

In theory, the narrow gap between VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM could mean that if socialists get a bigger share of the vote in Tearce on Sunday, Parliament seats may be reallocated, resulting in a deadlock with the two parties getting 50 lawmakers each.