2019–20 Croatian presidential election

The incumbent president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, took office on 19 February 2015 and her term is due to end on 18 February 2020.^[5] The presidential term of Zoran Milanović is due to begin on 19 February 2020 and end on 18 February 2025.

The president of Croatia is directly elected by secret ballot to a term of 5 years using a two-round system. The Constitution of Croatia requires that a presidential election be held no sooner than 60 days and no later than 30 days before the expiration of the incumbent president's term. An absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) of all votes cast (including invalid, blank and uncast ballots) is required to win in the first round. If no candidate acquires such a majority, a second-round is to be held in 14 days' time, with the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round taking part. The candidate who acquires the highest number of votes in the second round (a majority of valid cast votes) is declared the winner. If one of the candidates who has won a high enough number of votes to take part in the second round were to abandon his candidacy or die, the candidate with the next highest number of votes in the first round will earn the right to take part in the second round. Furthermore, Croatian presidents may serve a maximum of two 5-year terms in their lifetime (a total of 10 years if both terms are won and served out in full).^[6]

In order for a potential candidate to be legally allowed to contest the election and have their name placed on the ballot, they must gather at least 10,000 signatures from eligible voters, with every such signatory being permitted to give his signature of support to only one potential candidate. The time frame for collecting the said number of signatures is set at 12 days, and after the expiry of this period potential candidates must submit them to the State Electoral Commission for verification.^[7]

On 5 December, the State Electoral Commission published a list of 11 candidates.^[8]

More information Candidate, Party affiliation ...

Candidate			Party affiliation	Political remarks	Proof of nomination
		Nedjeljko Babić	Croatian Party of all Chakavians, Kajkavians and Shtokavians	The candidate of a regional party, the Croatian Party of all Chakavians, Kajkavians and Shtokavians (HSSČKŠ). His bid was announced on 26 September.	Submitted some 14,000 signatures on 30 November.[9]
		Anto Đapić	Democratic Alliance for National Renewal	Đapić is nominated as the candidate of a right-wing party, the Democratic Alliance for National Renewal (DESNO). His bid was announced on 18 September.[10] Declared himself the only true hard-right candidate.[11] Formerly an MP (1992–2009) and the Mayor of Osijek (2005–2007, 2009), previously ran in the 2000 election as the candidate of the Croatian Party of Rights, finishing in 5th place in the first round.	Submitted some 13,000 signatures on 2 December.[12]
		Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (runner-up)	Independent[a]	Incumbent President of Croatia since 2015. Grabar-Kitarović is standing for re-election to a second and final term. Although formally independent, she was nominated by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union and is supported by three other centrist to right-wing parties (HSP AS, BM 365, and HDS).[11][13] She is running on a centre-right platform. Her bid was announced on 8 August.[14]	Submitted some 231,000 signatures on 3 December.[15]
		Dario Juričan (legal name is Milan Bandić)	Independent	Filmmaker born as Dario Juričan. In 2019, he legally changed his name to that which is identical to the name of the incumbent Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić.[16] His bid was announced on 18 September and is running on an anti-Milan Bandić satirical platform.[17]	Submitted some 13,000 signatures on 3 December.[18]
		Mislav Kolakušić	Independent	Former judge and independent Member of the European Parliament for Croatia. His bid was announced on 27 May.[19] He is running as an anti-establishment independent candidate,[20] focusing on anti-corruption and smaller government policies.[11]	Submitted some 15,000 signatures on 29 November.[21]
		Dejan Kovač	Croatian Social Liberal Party	An economist at the Princeton University.[22] Kovač is a candidate of the centre to centre-right Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), although he is not their member. His bid was announced on 4 August.	Submitted some 16,000 signatures on 1 December.[23]
		Zoran Milanović (winner)	Social Democratic Party	Candidate of the biggest opposition party, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP), and is supported by 12 other centre-left, green and liberal parties (HSS, HSU, PGS, NS-R, Democrats, IDS, HL, SU, Glas, MDS, SNAGA, ZS, ORaH). His bid was announced on 17 June.[24] Former Prime Minister of Croatia (2011–2016) and the president of SDP (2007–2016).	Submitted some 78,000 signatures on 26 November.[25]
		Dalija Orešković	Independent	Orešković was nominated as an independent candidate, although she leads the Party of Anti-corruption, Development and Transparency (START). Her bid was announced on 7 July 2019. In 2018, she had initially publicly stated that she wouldn't run in the election.[26] She is running on an anti-corruption platform.[11] Former Chair of Conflicts of Interest Committee of the Croatian Parliament (2013–2018).	Submitted some 11,000 signatures on 3 December.[27]
		Katarina Peović	Workers' Front	Peović was nominated by her own party, the left-wing Workers' Front, and is supported by the Socialist Labour Party.[28][29] Running on a democratic socialist platform.[30] Her bid was announced on 18 December 2018. Formerly a member of the Zagreb Assembly (2018).	Submitted some 14,000 signatures on 3 December.[31]
		Ivan Pernar	Party of Ivan Pernar	At the time a member of the Croatian Parliament. Pernar was nominated by his own party, which bears his name. Running on a populist platform. He announced his intention to run on 7 June 2019 and officially launched a candidacy on 21 June 2019.[32][33]	Submitted some 15,000 signatures on 3 December.[34]
		Miroslav Škoro	Independent	Popular folk musician and formerly a member of the Croatian Parliament (2008). Running as an independent candidate, supported by right-wing and anti-establishment parties.[20] His bid is endorsed by HKS, Hrast, UHD, Most, Green List[35] and was announced on 23 June.[36]	Submitted some 70,000 signatures on 3 December.[37]

Close

The first round of the election took place on 22 December 2019, with former Social Democratic Prime Minister Zoran Milanović winning by a plurality of 29.55% of the vote, ahead of conservative incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who received 26.65% of the vote.^[70] The conservative folk musician and former Member of Parliament Miroslav Škoro, who was running as an independent candidate, narrowly failed to reach the run-off election, managing to attract the support of 24.45% of voters.^[70] This marked the first time in Croatian history that the incumbent president did not receive the highest number of votes in the first round.^{[citation needed]} Also, Grabar-Kitarović attained both the lowest number of votes (507,626) and the lowest percentage of votes of any Croatian president competing in either of the two rounds of elections.^{[citation needed]} Milanović received both the lowest number of votes (562,779) and the lowest percentage of the vote of any first-place candidate in the first round of a presidential election.^{[citation needed]} Škoro received the highest number of votes (465,703) for a third-placed candidate since Mate Granić (HDZ) in the 2000 elections and the highest-ever percentage of the vote for a candidate who did not advance to the run-off. Milanović received a plurality of the vote in Croatia's three largest cities; 33.02% in Zagreb, 30.79% in Split and 41.87% in Rijeka, and finished second (25.61%) in the fourth largest city, Osijek, which was won by Škoro (33.33%). Grabar-Kitarović came in second in Split and Rijeka, and third in Zagreb and Osijek.^[71]

A run-off was held between Milanović and Grabar-Kitarović on 5 January 2020. Milanović won by just over 104,000 votes, becoming the fifth President of Croatia since independence and the second to have been officially nominated by the Social Democratic Party, after Ivo Josipović (2010–2015). Furthermore, Milanović received a majority of the vote in seven counties and in the City of Zagreb, while Grabar-Kitarović defeated him among voters living in thirteen counties and among the members of the Croatian diaspora. However, Milanović defeated Grabar-Kitarović in all four major cities: Zagreb (by around 74,000 votes), Split (by around 3,000 votes), Rijeka (by around 20,000 votes) and Osijek (by around 1,000 votes).^[72]

• 2020s in political history
• List of presidents of Croatia