Croatian Elections: Guidelines for diaspora voting

ZAGREB – 7 April (Hina) – A total of 6,884 polling stations will be available for voting in Croatia’s 17 April parliamentary election, 115 fewer than four years ago. 

Designating polling stations in Croatia is not the responsibility of the State Electoral Commission (DIP), but rather the electoral commissions of constituencies, which decided to reduce their number, probably at the suggestion of municipal and city commissions, making sure that voters are not deprived of the availability of polling stations, the DIP said.

In the ten constituencies in Croatia, 6,544 polling stations will open on the election Wednesday. Most of them are in Constituencies 2 (854) and 7 (825), while Constituency 1 has the least polling stations (365).

Temporarily registered voters in Croatia will vote at 102 special polling stations, voters in social care institutions at 91, prisoners at 28, seafarers at 15, and voters in the Armed Forces at two special polling stations.

No polling stations in Ukraine, Israel, Finland and Japan

There will be 110 polling stations abroad, in Constituency 11 which is designed for the diaspora, two fewer than in 2020. Voting will take place in 41 countries, the same number as in the previous parliamentary election.

Unlike in the 2020 election, no voting will take place in Finland, Japan, Israel and Ukraine, but there will be polling stations in Chile, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

The DIP explained that polling stations at the diplomatic and consular missions are designated in cooperation with the commission of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs for the preparation and coordination of parliamentary elections, taking into account the possibility of organising polling stations at individual missions.

When designating polling stations abroad, the security situation in the receiving country is taken into account, as well as the possibility of ensuring the minimum conditions for the work of polling committees and the secrecy of voting, among other things, said the DIP.

Voting abroad to take place over two days, three MPs to be elected

The diaspora, or Croatian citizens without residence in Croatia, will vote on two days, Tuesday 16 April and Wednesday 17 April. They will elect three out of the total of 151 members of the Croatian Parliament.

Of the 110 polling stations abroad, 43 are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two fewer than in 2020, and in addition to the usual six cities, voting will also be possible in the northeastern town of Orašje, where four polling stations will be open.

Mostar will have the most polling stations, 22 in total, two more than four years ago. It is the only city, besides Livno, where the number of polling stations has not been reduced.

Compared to four years ago, there will be five polling stations in Vitez instead of 10, four in Sarajevo instead of six, two in Tuzla instead of three, one in Banja Luka instead of two, and four polling stations in Livno, the same number as in 2020. When determining the number of polling stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we followed the recommendations of the Foreign Ministry’s commission, said the DIP.

Germany and Serbia with one polling station more than in 2020

There will be 12 polling stations in Germany, one more than in 2020. The consulates general in Munich and Stuttgart will have three each (compared with two each in the 2020 election), the consulate general in Frankfurt and the Croatian embassy in Berlin will have two each (the same as in 2020), and the consulates in Hamburg and Dusseldorf will have one each (compared with two each in 2020).

There will be four polling stations each in the USA and Australia, at the embassies in Washington and Canberra, as well as at the consulates general in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Italy and Serbia will have three polling stations each. In Italy, one polling station each will be available in Rome, Trieste and Milan, and in Serbia, one will be open in Belgrade and two in Subotica.

There will be two polling stations each in Montenegro (Podgorica and Kotor), Austria (both at the embassy in Vienna), Hungary (Budapest and Pécs), Switzerland (Bern and Zurich) and Canada (Ottawa and Mississauga).

All other countries will have one polling station each, including, for example, Denmark, Chile, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, China and Russia.

Voting abroad

Voters residing in Croatia who have temporarily registered to vote at a polling station abroad or who have obtained a certificate to vote outside their place of residence can vote at polling stations abroad.

Voters who do not reside in Croatia can vote at polling stations abroad if they are registered ex-officio for the polling station in question because they have an e-identity card with an address abroad or have registered at their own request.

If a voter who does not have a place of residence in Croatia is not registered, on the day of voting they can ask for a voting certificate to prove their right to vote, the DIP said.