Croatia Election (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
On May 16, Croats cast their ballots for representatives of municipal and town councils and county assemblies, and voted directly for mayors, the heads of municipalities and counties.
The races for the mayors of Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek are drawing the most attention. All four towns will receive new mayors: Milan Bandic, Zagreb's long-standing mayor, recently died, while Andro Krstulovic Opara, Veljko Obersnel and Ivica Vrkic chose not to run for re-election.
Polls ahead of the vote foreshadow an election tough to call and a likely runoff.
425 municipal and 127 town councils, 20 county assemblies, the assembly of the City of Zagreb, municipal heads, mayors and county heads, and some 70 deputies from ethnic minorities and a dozen Croats in municipalities where Croats are a minority will be elected to serve four-year terms.
Tightened anti-epidemic measures were in place during the local vote to protect against the spread of COVID-19, and part of the public criticized the government's decision to open the state border for the election.
Citizens eligible to vote were allowed to enter Croatia without a negative PCR test regardless of from which country they were coming from, but were also required to leave within 12 hours.
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