2023 Vojvodina provincial election

, president of the government of Vojvodina from 2016 to 2024 A populist coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power in Vojvodina after the 2016 election, along with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ). Since then, Igor Mirović of SNS has been the president of the government of Vojvodina. Since he came to power, observers have assessed that Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism, followed by a decline in media freedom and civil liberties. In 2023, the V-Dem Institute categorised Serbia as an electoral autocracy, while Freedom House noted that SNS has "eroded political rights and civil liberties, put pressure on independent media, the opposition, and civil society organisations". The For Our Children coalition, led by SNS, won a supermajority of votes and seats in the 2020 provincial election. SNS was followed by the SPS–United Serbia (JS) coalition which won 13 seats, the Vojvodina Front, led by the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), which won 6 seats; Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS) each won 5 seats, while the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) won 4 seats. Following the election, Mirović was re-elected as president of the government of Vojvodina, establishing a coalition government composed of SNS, SPS, JS, and VMSZ. Since the 2020 provincial elections, general elections were organised in Serbia in April 2022. This time, SNS led the Together We Can Do Everything coalition, which lost its parliamentary majority in the election. However, twelve electoral lists in total, including the ones from the opposition, crossed the 3 percent threshold. == Electoral system ==

The 120 members of the Assembly of Vojvodina are elected by closed-list proportional representation from a single nationwide constituency. Eligible voters vote for electoral lists, on which the registered candidates are present. An electoral list could be only submitted by a registered political party; until 2023, a coalition of political parties or a citizens' group could do it as well. To submit an electoral list, at least 4,000 valid signatures must be collected, though ethnic minority parties only need to collect 2,000 signature to qualify on ballot. The electoral list is submitted by its chosen ballot representative. An electoral list could be declined, after which those who had submitted can fix the deficiencies in a span of 48 hours, or rejected, if the person is not authorised to nominate candidates. The seats are distributed by dividing the total number of votes received by the electoral list participating in the distribution of seats by each number from one to 120. To vote, a person has to be a citizen and resident of Serbia and at least 18 years old. At least five days before the election, citizens are notified about the election, receive information about the day and time of the election, and the address of the polling station where they could vote. Since then, all 120 seats have been conducted under a proportional representation system. Dejan Bursać, an associate at the Institute of Political Studies in Belgrade, noted that with this change, geographical and minority representation decreased in the Assembly of Vojvodina while the representation of women increased. Parliamentary groups led by SNS, SPS–JS, and VMSZ introduced a proposal to amend the electoral system of Vojvodina in September 2023. They had proposed to lower the number of needed valid signatures and to bar coalitions and citizens' groups from taking place in the future elections. Election date In April 2023, the newspaper Danas reported that snap parliamentary elections, local elections, Vojvodina provincial election, and the Belgrade City Assembly election could be held as early as in November 2023. At a press conference in July 2023, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia and former president of SNS, said that an early parliamentary election "could take place in September or December if the opposition parties agree. And if not, we will have general elections in April or May 2024, to be held concurrently with the Vojvodina provincial election and the regular local elections". By law, the Vojvodina provincial election and regular local elections could be held as late as 30 June 2024. Darko Glišić, the president of the SNS executive board, stated that the local and provincial elections will be held in the first half of 2024. In August, Vučić said that provincial and local elections will "certainly be held in the next six or seven months", and that "most likely, parliamentary ones will be held as well". Newspaper Nova and news portal N1 reported in September 2023 that local, provincial, and parliamentary elections could be held as early as 19 December 2023. Vučić and Miloš Vučević, the president of SNS, also held a gathering with officials from Vojvodina on 5 September, with newspaper Blic reporting that the official date will be revealed after the 78th United Nations General Assembly, which is set to be held on 18–26 September. In late September, Vučić announced that the elections will be called in December 2023 for them to be organised on 4 March 2024. He subsequently announced that they could be held on 17 December 2023. Mirović, however, stated that he does not plan to resign from the position of the president of the government of Vojvodina. Due to the death of István Pásztor, the president of the Assembly of Vojvodina, in late October 2023, a new president of the Assembly of Vojvodina had to be elected for the elections to be called on 17 December, considering that the president of the Assembly of Vojvodina only has the right to call provincial elections. Portal Autonomija described the situation as "unprecedented in the history of the Assembly of Vojvodina". With 95 votes in favour, the Assembly dissolved itself on 16 November, setting the election date for 17 December. Political parties The table below lists political parties and coalitions elected to the Assembly of Vojvodina after the 2020 provincial election. Pre-election composition == Pre-election activities ==

Government parties The Serbian Patriotic Alliance (SPAS), a party that won several seats in the City Assemblies of Novi Sad and Kikinda, was offered to merge into SNS in May 2021. Aleksandar Šapić, the leader of SPAS, accepted the offer and SPAS ceased to exist on 29 May. In preparation for the 2022 elections, SNS affirmed their cooperation with SPS. However, after the 2022 elections, Vučić hinted at a potential formation of a bloc or a movement, which he later revealed in March 2023 to be the People's Movement for the State (NPZD). He said that NPZD would act as a "supra-party movement" and that SNS would not be dissolved. Miloš Vučević, the former mayor of Novi Sad, was elected president of SNS in May 2023 and affirmed that SNS would take part in the movement, with Vučić as its leader. The movement is set to be formed by September 2023. Dušan Bajatović, the leader of SPS in Vojvodina, announced in July 2023 the preparations for the upcoming elections in Vojvodina. Opposition parties In the aftermath of the 2020 elections, SZS was dissolved and succeeded by the United Opposition of Serbia coalition. However, this coalition would be dissolved by January 2021. Parties in the coalition, namely the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), People's Party (Narodna), and Democratic Party (DS), renewed their cooperation in November 2021, in preparation for the 2022 elections. They formalised the United for the Victory of Serbia (UZPS) alliance in January 2022 which ultimately won 14 percent of popular vote in the 2022 parliamentary election. After the elections, SSP retained connections with the Movement of Free Citizens as members of the Ujedinjeni parliamentary group, however, Narodna, DS, and members of the We Must alliance, went their own ways. DSS and POKS signed a cooperation agreement in January 2021, further expanding it in May 2021 with the creation of the National Democratic Alternative (NADA). POKS was, however, met with a leadership dispute in December 2021. DSS changed its name to New Democratic Party of Serbia (NDSS) in May 2022, while a month later Vojislav Mihailović was legally recognised as the president of POKS. In February 2023, POKS left the local government of Novi Sad, which is led by SNS. Soon after, more than 120 members of POKS defected to SNS, while POKS established connections with NDSS in the Assemblies of Novi Sad and Vojvodina through the formations of the NADA parliamentary groups. Zdravko Ponoš, the presidential candidate of the UPZS alliance, also left Narodna after the 2022 elections. He formed the Serbia Centre (SRCE) organisation in June 2022 which was registered as a political party in July 2023. Within Narodna, a dispute between its president Vuk Jeremić and vice-president Miroslav Aleksić began in June 2023. Aleksić was eventually removed from the position of the party's executive board in July 2023; he then publicly acknowledged the conflict between him and Jeremić. Although a leadership is scheduled for October 2023, Aleksić left Narodna and reconstituted the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS) in August 2023. Although the We Must alliance ceased to exist after the 2022 elections, its member parties said that they would continue cooperating in the National Assembly. Together, with Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, Biljana Stojković, and Nebojša Zelenović as its co-presidents, was formed in June 2022 as a merger of Together for Serbia, Ecological Uprising, and Assembly of Free Serbia. Solidarity, which was also affiliated with the We Must alliance, merged into Together in January 2023. NDB announced in late June 2022 that it had adopted a platform to work on becoming a registered party, while it began collecting signatures in May 2023. It also announced that it would rename itself to Green–Left Front (ZLF). ZLF was formalised in July 2023. == Electoral lists ==

With the dissolution of the Assembly, the deadline to submit electoral lists was set for 26 November. The collective electoral list was published by PIK on 1 December. The following table includes electoral lists that were confirmed by PIK and that took part in the 2023 Vojvodina provincial election. — National minority list == Campaign ==

Political scientist Dejan Bursać argued that the provincial election has been largely overshadowed by the parliamentary election. Slogans Debates Party campaigns Serbian Progressive Party SNS began collecting signatures for its electoral list on 16 November, once the elections were called. Vučević called for "even development of Vojvodina". Their electoral list was confirmed by PIK a day later. Saša Vujić from Healthy Serbia also appears on the list, while Milan Đukić, despite being a Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) member, is listed as a SNS candidate due to SPO not signing a cooperation agreement with SNS. Incumbent president of the government of Vojvodina, Mirović, however, is not present on the list for the first time since 2012. Mirović has previously criticised Vučević. Mirović did not take part in the 2023 election campaign and was absent from SNS billboards in Vojvodina; Damir Zobenica was instead seen as the main representative of SNS during the election campaign. Socialist Party of Serbia SPS submitted its list to PIK on 17 November, with 5,932 collected signatures. PIK confirmed the list on 19 November. The Action of Progressive Vojvodina also filed candidates on the SPN electoral list. "Our places from all over Vojvodina should be a breeding ground for knowledge, education and upbringing, and not for crime", Tepić has said. PIK confirmed the SPN electoral list on 22 November. Its list was confirmed by PIK on 22 November. Đurađ Jakšić was announced as their ballot holder; Jakšić said that SRS is in favour of a unitary state "with one parliament, one government and one president, without autonomous provinces". Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians Shortly after the midnight on 21 November, VMSZ submitted its electoral list with 6,526 signatures. VMSZ expressed their support for further decentralisation in Vojvodina. Russian Party Shortly after SRS submitted their list, the Russian Party also submitted theirs, with 2,409 signatures in total. The Russian Party also submitted a request for their electoral list to be registered as a minority list. United for Justice The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV) and Justice and Reconciliation Party coalition submitted its electoral list to PIK on 24 November, with 2,117 signatures. Tomislav Žigmanov of DSHV, the ballot holder of the United for Justice, said that the coalition supports multiculturalism and that it would support the expansion of minority rights. Its electoral list was confirmed by PIK on 26 November. Siniša Kovačević was announced as its ballot holder and main representative. Narodna's and NO coalition's electoral lists were confirmed by PIK on 27 November. The Democratic Union of Roma filed candidates on the DJB–SDS electoral list. == Opinion polls ==

The graph below showcases major parties and alliances in opinion polls from the 2020 Vojvodina provincial election to 17 December 2023. chart of poll results from 21 June 2020 to 17 December 2023 == Results ==

There were 1,669,791 citizens in total who had the right to vote in the provincial election. Elections were repeated at five voting stations. == Aftermath ==

The Assembly of Vojvodina was constituted on 9 February 2024. Juhász Bálint of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians was elected president of the Assembly. At the session on 8 May, the Assembly elected Maja Gojković as the new president of the government of Vojvodina, succeeding Mirović. == Notes ==