Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in North Macedonia on 24 April 2024. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a second round will be held on 8 May, alongside parliamentary elections.[1][2] Incumbent Stevo Pendarovski is eligible for re-election.
Electoral system
The President of North Macedonia is elected using a modified two-round system; a candidate can only be elected in the first round of voting if they receive the equivalent of over 50% of the vote from all registered voters.[3] In the second round, voter turnout must be at least 40% for the result to be deemed valid.[4] Before 2009, the constitution required turnout in the second round to be 50% to validate the result. However, the XXXI amendment approved on 9 January 2009 lowered the threshold to 40%,[4] as the then-government feared the trend of reducing turnouts would lead to presidential elections being frequently invalidated. In the 2009 presidential elections, second round turnout was just 42.6%.[5]
In order to contest the election, potential candidates are required to collect signatures from at least 10,000 registered voters or 30 MPs.[6]
The constitution mandates that the President must be over 40 years of age and have lived in the country for ten of the last fifteen years.