The 17 April elections for the 11th Croatian national parliament cost nearly 13 million euros, according to preliminary data released by the State Electoral Commission (DIP) which is expected to give the final results in late June.

Before that, the DIP is supposed to disburse a total of €2.7 million to political parties and candidates that ran in the elections for their electioneering costs.

For the sake of comparison, according to initial estimates, the latest parliamentary elections cost more than those four years ago, and the allocation for this year’s polls was about €2.2 million higher than in 2020.

Broken down by type of costs, the appropriation to remunerate members of polling committees was €9.8 million, whereas the fund for covering material costs, such as the preparation of election materials (ballots, IT support etc), stood at €3.5 million as against €7.8 million and €2.96 million, respectively.

The daily remuneration to a polling station member was €55, while the chairpersons of the committees were paid €65. In some cases, the election process took two days.

Furthermore, €570,000 has been set aside to pay workers who provided administrative and IT support during the election process.

The Ethics Commission was paid a total €11,300.

Material costs

Half of €3.5 million spent on material costs went for the costs of the APIS company’s IT support.

The printing and distribution of 3.5 million ballots and the preparation of ballot boxes and other materials cost €1.1 million.

During the July 2020 elections, the material costs were €2.96 million.