Washington, D.C., January 2, 2005 – The fourth presidential elections in Croatia were held today, as polling stations opened in the United States. A total of 4,403,871 Croatian citizens with the right to vote had the opportunity to cast their ballots at 6,719 polling stations in Croatia and 50 countries. Some 400,000 citizens reside abroad, where 155 polling stations were set up, while 4,003,645 eligible voters are in Croatia.
In the United States, polling stations opened at 7AM local time Sunday at the Embassy of Croatia in Washington, consulates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and the Croatian National Home Cardinal Stepinac in Cleveland.
Ambassador Jurica casts his vote
Croatian Ambassador to the U.S., Neven Jurica, cast his vote at U.S. polling station #1 located at the Croatian Embassy in Washington.
In Croatia, polls are due to close at 7PM and preliminary results are expected to be released shortly after midnight.
There was a total of 13 candidates in this
year’s election, with the top two contenders expected to be incumb
ent
President Stjepan Mesić
and challenger Jadranka Kosor, a minister and
senior member in the ruling party, the Croatian Democratic
Union.
Candidates need at least 50 percent plus one vote to get elected. If no candidate garners enough votes, a second round of voting will be held on January 16.
According to the Constitution, a president may serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms. In a parliamentary system, as is the case in Croatia, the President of the Republic is the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and acts as official representative of the Republic at home and abroad.