Today is the final day of the pre-election campaign ahead of the second round of presidential elections. At midnight the electoral silence is in force again, banning rallies, media ads and other campaigning, and it lasts until the close of polling stations on Sunday at 19h.

Some 1.808 million citizens are eligible to vote for one of the two candidates – Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova nominated by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party and Stevo Pendarovski from the ruling SDSM – DUI coalition. In order for the elections to be considered legitimate, at least 40 percent of all voters, or about 723.253 people, must show up and vote.

The third presidential candidate, Blerim Reka from the Alliance of Albanians and BESA, dropped out after the first round. He did not endorse a candidate, but called on his supporters to come out and vote. Turnout was slightly over 42 percent in the first round and Siljanovska and Pendarovski were within a few thousand votes. This makes all options – a win for Siljanovska, a win for Pendarovski, or a failed election – realistically possible.