2021 Serbian local elections

On 9 March, the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) submitted their ballot list for the election,[34] but were denied participation by the City Election Commission due to deficiencies in the electoral list, after which the Commission declared their ballot to be invalid three days later.[35] On 24 March, together with the United Peasant Party (USS) they announced their support for the Serbian Progressive Party.[36]

On 27 February, mayor Ničić met with construction, transport and infrastructure minister Tomislav Momirović to discuss about expanding local infrastructure in Zaječar.[37] During the last election week, Ana Brnabić and Aleksandar Vučić both visited Zaječar.[38] Multiple ministers also visited the town during the election campaign.[39][40][41]

In the municipality of Zaječar, there were 50,463 eligible citizens that were able to vote in the 2021 local election.[42] The local City Election Commission reported that the turnout was 49.81%.[43][44] The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 24 seats, and secured the majority together with the Socialist Party of Serbia–United Serbia (SPS–JS), which won 4 seats.[45] The Nenad Ristović List placed second with 16 seats, while the Dragana Rašić List won 4 seats.[45] The Dejan Krstić List and a list headed by the Enough is Enough (DJB) won one seat each.[45]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Serbian Progressive Party	10,838	43.19	24
	Nenad Ristović List	7,047	28.08	16
	SPS–JS	2,157	8.60	4
	Dragana Rašić List	1,833	7.30	4
	Dejan Krstić List	793	3.16	1
	Enough is Enough	778	3.10	1
	NADA	674	2.69	0
	Dragan Stamenković List	514	2.05	0
	Healthy Serbia	461	1.84	0
Total		25,095	100.00	50
Valid votes		25,095	99.83
Invalid/blank votes		42	0.17
Total votes		25,137	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		50,463	49.81
Source: Zaječar Info

Election campaigning was also prominent in Kosjerić, although opposition parties that boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election decided to not take part in the local elections, stating that "the elections won't be free and fair".[46][47] Several high officials were spotted during the election campaigns, such as Ivica Dačić and the finance minister Siniša Mali.[48][49] On 9 March, a basketball club was offered a donation by SNS, which they declined claiming it as "cheap election propaganda".[50][51]

In the Municipality of Kosjerić, there were 9,332 eligible citizens that were able to vote in the election.[52] The local Election Commission reported that the turnout was 73%.[53] Around 13:00 on election day, a woman collapsed and died after leaving a polling station.[54][55] The list headed by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won a majority of 20 seats, while the Clean People for Clean Kosjerić list won 3 seats, the National Democratic Alternative coalition (headed by the POKS and Democratic Party of Serbia) won 2 seats including Healthy Serbia, who also won 2 seats.[56]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	SNS–SPS–PUPS–PS–SNP–SDPS	4,575	68.78	20
	Clean People for Clean Kosjerić	904	13.59	3
	Healthy Serbia	642	9.65	2
	NADA	485	7.29	2
	Serbian Radical Party	46	0.69	0
Total		6,652	100.00	27
Valid votes		6,652	97.65
Invalid/blank votes		160	2.35
Total votes		6,812	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,332	73.00
Source: Grad Kosjerić

Political events in Preševo, including the crisis, influenced the election to take place, in which a new local city council was elected.[57] Numerous Serb parties, led by the Serbian Progressive Party, declared a common list in early March 2021.[58]

In the Municipality of Preševo, there were 41,847 eligible citizens to vote in the local election.[43] The local Election Commission reported that the turnout was 43%.[59] The Alternative for Changes list headed by Shqiprim Arifi won 14 seats and followed by them, the Democratic Party of Albanians won 9 seats, Party for Democratic Action won 7 seats, Movement for Reforms list won 5 seats, the Serbian Progressive Party-headed list won 2 seats and the Democratic Union of Albanians won 1 seat.[60]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Alternative for Changes	6,020	33.88	14
	Democratic Party of Albanians	4,173	23.48	9
	Party for Democratic Action	3,368	18.95	7
	Movement for Reforms	2,545	14.32	5
	SNS–SPS–PUPS–SRS–JS–PS–SD–SSZ coalition	1,222	6.88	2
	Democratic Union of Albanians	441	2.48	1
Total		17,769	100.00	38
Valid votes		17,769	98.43
Invalid/blank votes		283	1.57
Total votes		18,052	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,847	43.14
Source: Južne Vesti

The Serbian Progressive Party together with the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia submitted their common list on 2 September,[61] while the Alliance 90/Greens of Serbia submitted their ballot on 24 September and the National Democratic Alternative on 28 September.[62][63] The Socialist Party of Serbia decided to cooperate with the far-right Serbian Radical Party to form a common list which was submitted on 29 September.[64] Besides these lists, the Healthy Serbia and two civic groups "Free Citizens of Mionica" and "Democracy on the old place" participated in the local election.[65] During the election campaign, environmental protection minister Irena Vujović and minister Momirović were spotted in Mionica.[66][67]

In the Municipality of Mionica, there were 10,989 eligible citizens to vote in the local election.[68] The local Election Commission reported that the turnout was 69%.[69] The list headed by the Serbian Progressive Party won 31 seats and followed by them, the list headed by the Socialist Party of Serbia won 4 seats, while the "Free Citizens of Mionica" and National Democratic Alternative won 2 seats respectively.[69]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	SNS–PUPS	5,489	73.32	31
	SPS–SRS	846	11.30	4
	Free Citizens of Mionica	425	5.68	2
	NADA	370	4.94	2
	Alliance 90/Greens of Serbia	156	2.08	0
	Democracy on the Old Place	127	1.70	0
	Healthy Serbia	73	0.98	0
Total		7,486	100.00	39
Valid votes		7,486	97.44
Invalid/blank votes		197	2.56
Total votes		7,683	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		10,989	69.92
Source: Opština Mionica

On 4 September, the Serbian Progressive Party and Socialist Party of Serbia submitted a common list for the election with Vladimir Veličković, an SNS commissioner in Negotin, as the ballot carrier.[70] The Serbian Radical Party submitted their ballot on 19 September, and on the same day the Election Commission accepted it.[71][72] Vuk Jeremić, the leader of the People's Party (NS), a centre-right opposition party, announced on 15 September that his party will be participating the upcoming local election in Negotin, after boycotting previous local and nation-wide elections since 2020.[73] Jeremić also stated that the decision wasn't made easy and that the upcoming election will be an "experiment" regarding the electoral condition.[73][74] On 22 September, they submitted their list, with Krsta Stanković Njenulović as the ballot carrier.[75][76] Boris Tadić, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, criticised this move by comparing this situation to when his party was declared "traitorous" because it violated the boycott decision in 2020.[77] The National Democratic Alternative submitted their list on 24 September,[78][79] six days after they began their electoral campaign.[80] The Party of United Pensioners of Serbia, formally submitted their ballot list on 18 September, although they weren't able to qualify because 245 signatures were missing.[81] In late September, the Alliance 90/Greens of Serbia submitted their ballot.[82] Their election list, together with Healthy Serbia's list, was accepted on 1 October.[83][84] In total, six lists participated in the election.[85]

In the Municipality of Negotin, there were 37,313 eligible citizens to vote in the local election.[86] The Election Commission reported that the turnout was 39%,[87] and the list headed by the Serbian Progressive Party won 38 seats and followed by them, the People's Party won 6 seats and the Alliance 90/Greens of Serbia won one seat.[87]

Physical attacks towards opposition activists took place during voting,[9] while the People's Party claimed that the "SNS stole about 20% of votes and gave it away to lists that didn't manage to pass the electoral threshold",[88][89] and that they will file complaints as soon as possible.[90] On 20 October, the Election Commission announced that they rejected the objections.[91] POKS and SPS have both stated that they are satisfied with their results.[90]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	SNS–SPS	11,119	77.93	38
	People's Party	1,887	13.23	6
	Alliance 90/Greens of Serbia	510	3.57	1
	NADA	322	2.26	0
	Serbian Radical Party	241	1.69	0
	Healthy Serbia	189	1.32	0
Total		14,268	100.00	45
Valid votes		14,268	96.05
Invalid/blank votes		586	3.95
Total votes		14,854	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		37,313	39.81
Source: Grad Negotin