2025 North Macedonia Local Elections

The 2025 North Macedonia Local Elections were local government elections held in two rounds on 19 October and 2 November 2025 across the country to elect mayors and municipal council members. As a result of the elections, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Union for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) won the majority of municipalities.

First round of the 2025 North Macedonia local elections, 19 October 2025 – (Anadolu Agency)

Election Calendar and Legal Framework

Local elections in North Macedonia are held every four years. The 2025 elections were the eighth local elections in the country’s history. The elections were conducted under the framework of the 1991 Constitution and the 2006 Election Law. Mayors were elected through a majority system while municipal councils were elected through a proportional representation system. In areas where no candidate surpassed the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a second round was held two weeks later. A minimum turnout of one third of registered voters was required for the elections to be valid.

In May 2025, the Constitutional Court annulled the law regulating the percentage of voter signatures required for independent candidates to participate in the elections. Previously, candidates were required to collect signatures from one percent of municipal voters; under the new regulation, the State Election Commission recognized only two voter signatures as sufficient.

Election Organization

The State Election Commission (SEC) managed the elections. There are 1,832,415 registered voters and 3,475 polling stations across the country.

A monitoring mission was established by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR). The mission consisted of a core team of 13 experts, 24 long-term observers and 250 short-term observers. A total of 1,451 observers were accredited, including two from Turkey’s Supreme Election Council.

Campaign and Participation

The election campaign began on 29 September and ended on 17 October 2025. Campaign expenditures were capped based on the number of registered voters. The spending limit was set at two euros per voter for the first round and an additional one euro for the second round. Individuals were permitted to donate up to 3,000 euros to campaigns, while legal entities could donate up to 30,000 euros.

Voting commenced on 19 October at 07:00 and ended at 19:00. Voter turnout in the first round was recorded at 46.65 percent.

First Round (19 October 2025)

The first round of local elections in North Macedonia took place on 19 October 2025. According to data from the State Election Commission (SEC), with approximately 70 percent of votes counted, the ruling coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE was ahead in 54 of the 81 municipalities. The opposition coalition led by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) led in nine municipalities, the governing partner coalition VLEN in eight, the National Integration Coalition (AKI) in five, and the Turkish Democratic Party (TDP) in one.

A total of 10,490 candidates participated in the elections; 309 ran for mayor and 10,181 for municipal council seats. Nationwide voter turnout on election day was recorded at 46.65 percent.

In the Centar Municipality, the TDP candidate led the vote but the election was invalidated due to turnout falling below the one-third threshold. The State Election Commission announced that the election in this municipality would be repeated within 60 days. Similarly, the elections in Mavrovo-Rostuša and Vrapčište municipalities were also invalidated due to turnout falling below the required threshold.

In Skopje City Municipality, with more than half the votes counted, VMRO-DPMNE led with 41.23 percent of the vote. In the Čair Municipality of the capital Skopje, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Izet Mexhiti secured over 50 percent of the vote, while his rival, former Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, received approximately 39 percent.

It was announced that municipalities where no candidate surpassed the 50 percent threshold in the first round would proceed to a second round. The second round was scheduled for 2 November 2025.

Second Round (2 November 2025)

The second round of local elections was held on 2 November 2025 in 33 municipalities where no candidate had surpassed the 50 percent threshold in the first round on 19 October. A total of 1,013,375 registered voters were eligible to vote, and voting took place between 07:00 and 19:00. Nationwide turnout in the second round was recorded at 41.47 percent.

In Skopje City Municipality, the election was contested between VMRO-DPMNE candidate Orce Gjorgjievski and the Levica (Left) Party candidate Amar Mecinovic. VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gjorgjievski won the second round.

In the municipalities of Gostivar, Vrapčište, Mavrovo-Rostuša and Centar, voter turnout fell below the one-third threshold required for the elections to be valid. The State Election Commission decided that elections in these four municipalities would be repeated at a later date.

After the second round, the State Election Commission announced that 99 percent of votes had been counted and that the elections across the country had been completed without incident.

Final Results

According to data released by the State Election Commission (SEC) after completion of both rounds, VMRO-DPMNE achieved victory in a total of 55 municipalities, including the capital Skopje. Thus, the party gained control of more than two thirds of the country’s 81 municipalities.

VMRO-DPMNE’s coalition partner, the Albanian political alliance VLEN (VREDI), won in four municipalities in the second round: Tetovo, Bogovinje, Debar and Dolneni. The alliance also supported independent candidate Mendi Çura in Struga and secured victory there as well.

The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) won elections in six municipalities overall. SDSM won in Centar, Makedonska Kamenica and Zrnovci in the second round, and in Kriva Palanka, Bogdanci and Krivogaštani in the first round.

Political Party Statements

Following the election results, VMRO-DPMNE General Secretary Hristijan Mickoski, in a press statement at party headquarters, stated that the party won 21 municipalities in the second round. Mickoski noted that his party’s candidate Aleksandar Jovanovski defeated the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) candidate Fatmir Dehari to win the mayoral position in Kicevo.

SDSM General Secretary Venko Filipçe, in his assessment of the results, stated that his party remained the country’s second largest political force and continued to lead the opposition bloc. Filipçe affirmed that he would not resign and indicated that the party would conduct internal evaluations to analyze the election outcomes.