Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in Serbia’s snap parliamentary election on Sunday, 25 October 2026, saying his electoral list was beaten by the student-backed opposition movement. Speaking from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) election headquarters, Vučić said his assessment was based on a stratified sample rather than a completed official count.
“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Vučić said, according to Blic. He estimated that the Students’ List would take between 135 and 140 seats in the 250-member National Assembly, compared with approximately 105 seats for the Vučić-backed list. A parliamentary majority requires 126 seats.
Independent projection also points to a Students’ List majority
An initial Ipsos/CeSID projection cited in the Guardian’s election-night coverage put the Students’ List on 52.0% of the vote and 138 seats, with Vučić’s list on 39.3% and 104 seats. These are estimates, not a certified result from Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).
Why the earliest RIK count showed a different picture
At a preliminary reporting snapshot timestamped 21:15 Belgrade time, RIK data displayed by Votendi showed the Vučić-backed list on 54.21% and the Students’ List on 36.85%. Crucially, only 2.42% of polling stations had been processed at that point. This was an early partial tally, not necessarily a representative sample of votes nationwide.
Those figures therefore should not be compared directly with the stratified-sample seat estimates as if they measured the same thing. As counting progresses, the official results may change considerably. Vučić’s concession does not itself make the projected seat totals official.
A pivotal election after nearly two years of protests
The election followed a sustained student-led protest movement that grew after the November 2024 railway-station canopy collapse in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people. The movement has demanded accountability and reforms to Serbian institutions. The Students’ List emerged as the principal electoral challenger to the SNS-led bloc. Large turnout and reports of voting-day irregularities added to the significance of Sunday’s vote.
Follow the official count live
Votendi is tracking the RIK’s published figures separately from party statements and media projections. For the latest tally, reporting progress and updates, visit our Serbia 2026 parliamentary election live results page.
Sources: Rijeka Danas; Blic; The Guardian; RIK data via Votendi live coverage. The RIK snapshot is dated 21:15 Belgrade time on 25 October 2026.
