Voting ended in the early general elections in Macedonia at 21h, after 14 hours during which citizens voted under masks, with numerous coronavirus safety precautions.

Turnout rose barely over 50 percent with half an hour to go – the State Electoral Commission said that it was at 50.84 percent at 20:30h.

By district, turnout was highest in the south-east, the 4th district, with 59.78 percent at 20:30h. The eastern 3rd district had a turnout of 57.31 percent. Skopje’s urban 1st district was at 52.17 percent, followed by the south-western 5th district with 50.14 percent. The northern 2nd district had a turnout rate of 47.97 percent and the 6th, north-western and Albanian majority district continued to to lag badly behind and had 39.22 percent.

Each district elected 20 members of Parliament. There were 1.81 million citizens eligible to vote over three days – with Monday and Tuesday set aside for patients with Covid-19 and other illnesses, as well as for prisoners.

Turnout is projected to be notably lower that the 2016 elections, when over 66 percent of the citizens voted. This is driven by fears of the virus, but also by fatigue after years of political crisis.