The number of lists is higher than for the elections held last November.
Prior to deadline which expired at midnight, the State Election Commission received more candidate lists for early parliamentary elections to be held on 11 September than it received in November last year, when the regular parliamentary elections took place, reports Novi List on August 14, 2016.
The Commission has received as many as 177 separate candidate lists, 11 more than in November. A party trying to represent people with frozen bank accounts and Mehmed Zahirović, a candidate for representative of the Roma minority, were among the last who came to the State Election Commission offices to submit their candidacies before midnight.
The greatest number of lists has been submitted for the first parliamentary constituency covering the centre and western suburbs of Zagreb (19), while on the other side the ninth constituency, covering Zadar area and Lika region, has received just 12 lists. The 11th special constituency, covering Croatian citizens who live abroad, will have 14 candidate lists. In the 12th special constituency, which includes representatives of national minorities, 26 nominations have been received, which is substantially lower than last year.
In the last 14 days, during the period when candidate lists could be submitted, there were no major irregularities, according to the State Election Commission vice-president Vesna Fabijančić, who added that the largest number of lists was received on the penultimate day before the deadline, which was surprising since most parties usually wait until the very last day to submit their lists.
The State Election Commission now has 48 hours to verify and officially publish all the lists, and then the official election campaign will start, although the unofficial campaign has been going on for months. The Commission said that it would announce the lists during a press conference which will be held at 5 pm on Monday.
The elections will take place on 11 September, when voters will elect 151 MPs (140 MPs in 10 regular constituencies with each electing 14 MPs; 3 MPs in the eleventh special constituency who will represent Croatian citizens living abroad; and 8 MPs in the twelfth special constituency who will represent national minorities living in Croatia). In each constituency, seats in Parliament will be divided proportionally according to the share of the votes, provided that parties cross the five percent electoral threshold. Special rules apply for the election of national minority representatives in the twelfth constituency.
