Croatia to hold local elections on 18 May – all you need to know

(Photo: HINA Pool/ Damir SENČAR)

ZAGREB, 15 April 2025 (Hina) – On the third Sunday of May, Croatian voters will head to the polls to elect local authorities in 576 administrative units.

These include municipalities, towns, and counties where residents will choose members of councils and assemblies, as well as mayors, county prefects, and their deputies.

Elections will be held in 428 municipalities, 127 towns, 20 counties, and in the City of Zagreb, which holds both city and county status.

This marks the fourth election in Croatia within just over a year. Parliamentary elections were held in April last year, followed by elections for the European Parliament in June, and presidential elections in December and January.

The local elections now follow in May.

The number of council or assembly members elected depends on the population of each unit. The smallest councils – with seven members – will be elected in municipalities and towns with up to 1,000 residents.

The largest, with up to 47 members, will be elected in towns and counties with populations exceeding 300,000.

The number of deputy officials in the executive branch is also determined by population size. For instance, county prefects in counties with more than 250,000 residents and mayors of cities with over 100,000 residents (such as Zagreb and Split) will have two deputies.

Prefects of counties with up to 250,000 residents – such as Lika-Senj, Požega-Slavonia, and Virovitica-Podravina – will have one deputy, as will mayors and municipal heads in cities and municipalities with between 10,000 and 100,000 residents, and mayors of county seats.

A Possible Third Round?

Municipal heads, mayors, and county prefects are elected by a majority vote. To win in the first round on Sunday, 18 May, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes cast.

If no candidate achieves this, a second round will take place two weeks later, on 1 June, featuring the two candidates with the most votes. The winner will be the one who secures the higher vote count.

Though rare, a third round of voting is occasionally required. In the 2021 local elections, this occurred in places such as Kraljevec na Sutli, and earlier in Bistrica and Stari Grad on the island of Hvar.

Who Can Vote and Where?

Croatian citizens aged 18 or older who have permanent residence in the constituency where the election is held are eligible to vote. Unlike parliamentary, presidential, and European elections, voters may only cast their ballot in their place of residence, not elsewhere in Croatia or abroad.

Both political parties and independent voters may submit candidate lists for council and assembly elections, as well as nominate candidates for municipal heads, mayors, and prefects.

To be eligible to nominate candidates, political parties must be officially registered in Croatia at the time the election is announced.

Certain individuals are prohibited from running in local elections, including police officers, active military personnel, members of the armed forces, and persons convicted of offences carrying a sentence of six months or more (excluding negligent offences).

Signature Requirements for Candidacies

Political parties are not required to collect signatures for council and assembly lists. However, independent (non-party) candidates must gather a specified number of voter signatures, depending on the size of the population in each unit.

This ranges from 25 signatures in municipalities with up to 350 residents, to 2,500 signatures in areas with more than 500,000 residents.

Regardless of whether a candidate is backed by a party or independent voters, all candidates for municipal heads, mayors, and prefects must also collect a designated number of signatures—ranging from 35 in the smallest municipalities, to 5,000 in the largest cities and counties.

Signatures must be collected using new official forms, which will be made available on the website of the State Electoral Commission (DIP). Old forms from previous elections cannot be used. Only voters with residence in the relevant municipality, city, or county may sign these forms.

Once the nomination period ends, it will be interesting to see whether public interest in participating in local government has increased or declined compared to the 2021 elections, when more than 38,000 candidates ran for office.

That year, over 7,100 candidates stood for county assemblies (including the City of Zagreb), and nearly 29,000 competed for municipal and city councils.

A total of 225 candidates ran for county prefect and deputy positions, while 1,901 individuals (including deputies) stood for municipal head and mayoral positions.