The ban on campaigning for the election to the 11th Parliament, which will take place in Croatia on Wednesday, i.e., election silence, comes into force at midnight on Monday and will remain in force until the polling stations close at 7 p.m. on 17 April.

There will be 6,500 polling stations in Croatia for the parliamentary election. Croatians living abroad can also vote in these election.

During the election silence, parties and candidates are asked to refrain from any form of campaigning and advertising for their causes.

Violations of the ban on election advertising will not be punished, but the State Electoral Commission (DIP) demands ethical behaviour from election participants and the media.

The election silence marks the end of 17 days of official campaigning ahead of the election, which President Zoran Milanovic has scheduled for 17 April, a Wednesday. Croatia has held parliamentary election on Sundays before. Parliamentary election have been held on a weekday only once before, in 2000, on Monday 3 January.

Election campaign characterised by Milanovic’s announcement of his candidacy for the office of Prime Minister

When announcing his decision to schedule the election for 17 April, Milanovic also announced his intention to run as the SDP party’s candidate for Prime Minister.

On 18 March, the Constitutional Court ruled that Milanovic may not participate in the political activities of a political party during his term as president.

If the President of the Republic announces his candidacy for the parliamentary election during his term of office or announces himself as a future candidate for the office of Prime Minister, he must immediately offer his resignation to the President of the Constitutional Court. In this case, the office of interim President of the Republic will be assumed by the Parliament Speaker in accordance with the Constitution, according to the Constitutional Court at this time.

Milanovic ruled out his resignation. He is not officially on any list as a candidate, but has so far made daily statements about his future government and criticised the cabinet led by the HDZ party.

On 20 March, the DIP called on Milanovic not to campaign directly for any participant in the upcoming parliamentary election in his press statements after he declared that he would be the next prime minister.

Such statements contradict the Constitutional Court’s warning that the duty of the president precludes any possibility of appearing as a candidate on a list, being advertised as a candidate for the office of prime minister or participating in campaigns in that capacity, the DIP said in a press release on 20 March.

Election in 41 countries

In addition to voters who can elect their representatives in 10 constituencies in Croatia, Croats abroad are also entitled to elect three MP’s in constituency no. 11. This constituency is formed for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croats abroad who are registered in the DIP voter lists.

Thus, election to the Croatian Parliament are held in 41 countries where ethnic Croats live.

Voting by Croatian citizens living abroad will take place on 16 and 17 April. The first polling stations will open in Australia and the last polling station in Los Angeles.

MPs will be elected by direct and secret ballot according to proportional representation

Members of the Croatian Parliament are elected by direct and secret ballot. Their term of office lasts four years. MPs are elected by proportional representation and preferential voting.

Regular election of members of the Croatian Parliament take place every four years. Croatian citizens aged 18 and over have the right to vote.

They elect 151 MPs: 14 MPs are elected from each of the ten constituencies.

In addition to these 140 MPs, three MPs are elected by Croatian citizens living outside Croatia (the diaspora and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina), as well as eight MPs elected to parliament as representatives of ethnic minorities.

Voters from ethnic communities can elect representatives in the electoral unit “Constituency No. 12”, which is intended for national minorities throughout Croatia. A total of eight seats in the 151-seat parliament are earmarked for their representatives, and of these eight seats, three are for representatives of ethnic Serbs.

Preferential votes in proportional representation

Deputies are elected by proportional representation with the possibility of a preferential vote. Voters can tick the name of the candidate they prefer over all other candidates on a ballot paper. Preferential votes only count if a candidate on a list receives at least 10% of the votes cast for their list.

With the exception of the twelfth constituency, in which the representatives of the national minorities are elected, the standard d’Hondt method is used for the election, with an electoral threshold of five per cent in each constituency.