State Electoral Commission (DIP) announced on Monday that 3,621,500 ballot papers will be printed for the first round of the presidential election 29 December and that the distribution of ballot papers will begin on Monday afternoon.

“As in all previous elections, we have ensured that the number of ballot papers corresponds to the number of eligible voters on the electoral rolls, namely 3,621,500,” DIP spokesman Slaven Hojski told the press.

The cost of a ballot paper is seven and a half cents, which means that printing the ballot papers will cost around €271,000. The ballot papers are 25 by 35 centimetres and the names of the eight candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

52 tonnes of paper

“Each ballot paper has its own serial number and they are all included in the application so that we can track them from the printer to each polling station,” said Hojski.

In addition to the ballot papers, the accompanying election materials also have to be printed.

As Hojski mentioned, 34,500 protocols and copies of protocols are printed, as well as 6,700 notices for all polling stations with a list of candidates, 9,200 large and small ballot boxes, around 20,000 ballot screens, brochures for the electoral boards and masks for the blind and visually impaired to enable them to vote independently.

In total, this involves around 52 tonnes of paper, which is about two truckloads, according to Hojski.

The distribution of the election material will begin in the afternoon and will first go to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and then to the most distant destinations in North and South America and Australia.

Croatian voters will exercise their right to vote in 6,755 polling stations

This week, the materials will also be sent to the individual counties, starting with the South, followed by the East, then Istria, Lika, Northern Croatia and Zagreb.

It is planned that all the election material will arrive at the municipal election commissions in the county towns by Christmas Eve, 24 December, he added.

Croatian voters will be able to exercise their right at 6,755 polling stations, of which 6,650 are in Croatia and 105 abroad, in 38 countries, he said.

As the presidential election relatively easy to conduct, the announcement of the first incomplete election results will begin on election Sunday, 29 December, from 8 p.m. and the results will be updated every ten minutes.