SKOPJE, (Rahnuma): Citizens of North Macedonia voted on Sunday in the presidential election runoff where voters will choose the country’s new president between the top two candidates of the first round held on April 21.
Over 1.8 million eligible voters would head to more than 3,400 polling stations throughout the country from 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) up to 7 p.m. (1700 GMT).
Stevo Pendarovski, the joint candidate of the governing coalition Social Democratic Union Party (SDSM) and Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) will face Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the candidate backed by the right-wing opposition VMRO DPMNE party.
According to the results shown at the State Election Commission (SEC) website, in the first round Pendarovski got 42.8 percent of votes, while Siljanovska-Davkova came second with 42.2 percent.
The elections will be valid if voters’turnout is at least 40 percent. If not, North Macedonia will hold fresh presidential elections. The turnout during the first round was 41.8 percent, according to the SEC.
A total of 3,381 local observers and 520 foreign observers will monitor the elections. SEC has accredited 289 interpreters and 60 foreign journalists.
