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    Milanovic wins Presidency and how Croatian Americans can vote

    President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, has won a second term for the office of the Presidency and will be reelected President of Croatia. The preliminary round counted 98.65% of votes at the polling stations in Croatia. Milanovic of the Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske (SDP), after winning the first round with 49% of the votes, led the landslide win for the Presidency with 74.68% of the votes. His opponent of the Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (HDZ), Dragan Primorac, won 25.32% of the votes. Croatia’s overall turnout after the polling stations closed was 44.18% out of the 3,496,283 registered voters.

    “Thank you, Croatia!”, said President Milanovic. “I believe I have been doing this job for the past 5 years and the last 15, almost 20, in good faith, and I hope the people have seen that.”

    The Croatians abroad also voted for their candidates and had a different result with a total of 21,353 votes counted. The HDZ candidate was declared the winner, with 66.54% of the votes and SDP won 33.46%.

    The poll for the votes abroad

    The United States had a smaller turn out compared to the first round with over 141 processed votes with 50.35% in favor for SDP and HDZ won 46.09%. The U.S. is among the 30 countries who voted in favor for Milanovic.

    The poll for SAD votes (USA)

    Croatians in DC also turned out to vote in the election. Large crowds came out with their families for the bi-weekly Croatian mass at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, and drove straight to the Croatian Embassy at Massachusetts Ave to vote.

    Ballot box in the Croatian Embassy in Washington DC

    Demonstration ballot for the preliminary round posted on the Embassy’s ballroom.

    Croatian Americans with only a dual Croatian citizenship can simply vote for their candidate by going to their local Croatian Consulate or Embassy, where a table is set with polling volunteers to check Croatian passports for proof of citizenship and ID’s. Just like American elections voters can access the voting booths to cast their vote on a paper ballot and drop them off at the voting box where the ballots are collected. The ballots are then placed in a ballot box where they will be counted after the polling closes.

    The Embassy’s polling station was open until 7pm on Sunday.

    Instead of voting jointly for congressmen, senators, and local representatives in U.S. Presidential elections, the elections are separate into different months in days depending on the term from either the President or Prime Minister. Croatian presidential candidates need at least 50% of the votes to be declared a winner. If neither candidate receives that 50% requirement, then the votes move into a preliminary round where two finalists need at least a 2/3 majority to be declared winner.

    The Croatian diaspora communities can only vote for Prime Ministers and presidential candidates, not municipal candidates. This election and preliminary round focused on the two finalists, Milanovic and Primorac, along with various Croatian political parties who promoted either HDZ or SDP.

    “The turnout for the preliminary round is always less than the first round.,” said a polling volunteer at the Croatian Embassy. “Usually, we get turn outs during the first round, but it’s not like a huge line of people.”

    Since the Croatian Presidency is a five-year term with only a maximum of two terms, this will be Milanovic’s last term. Prime Ministers can run for unlimited terms since they hold the most power in the country. The President is allowed to have a say in the foreign policy and security matters, but they are limited due to the Prime Minister’s ability to conduct security and defense policy, and veto powers.


    Photo -The façade of the Croatian Embassy in Washington DC. Image taken from the Embassy’s Facebook page.



      

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