Next Serbian presidential election

The president of Serbia is elected every five years in a direct election with the secret ballot voting method. A candidate nomination can be submitted either by a registered political party, a coalition of political parties, or a citizens' group (grupa građana) to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK), at most 20 days before the election. When submitting a candidate, the nominator also has to submit the candidate's written consent, a scanned ID card, at least 10,000 valid signatures, the list of signatories, and a confirmation from the nominating political party, coalition, or citizens' group. The nomination can be withdrawn, while once proclaimed, a candidate can also quit the election. The voting ballot contains the name and date of the election, ordinal numbers, names of the candidates, names of the nominators, and notes telling the voter that the voting is conducted via secret ballot and that they can only vote for a single candidate. Every adult citizen in Serbia with the ability to work has the right to vote in presidential elections.^[23]

The RIK, local election commissions, and polling boards oversee the election. Once the election concludes, local election commissions have to send all ballots to the RIK in less than 96 hours. Once the RIK obtains all ballots, they have 96 hours to release the results of the presidential election. A presidential election is called by the president of the National Assembly of Serbia, who has to call the election at least 90 days before the outgoing president's term expires. The election has to be held during the weekend. In case of state of war or emergency, elections have to be held at most three months after the proclamation of the end of the state of war or emergency. The same applies in case the president's term ends earlier, either due to death or resignation. The campaign can last between 30 and 60 days. A candidate is elected president if they receive a majority of votes, that is, at least 50% of all valid votes. If this does not happen, a second round is held within 15 days of the proclamation of the results. Two candidates that have received the most votes in the first round appear on the ballot for the second round. However, if two or more candidates tied for first or second place, they appear on the ballot too. A candidate who receives the most votes in the second round is elected president. In case if one candidate loses the right to vote between the two rounds, the entire voting process is repeated.^[23]

In case if parliamentary and presidential elections (general elections) are held on the same day, the voting proceeds at the same voting stations, while the same commissions and boards oversee the elections.^[23]

Vučić's second term will end on 31 May 2027. By law, a presidential election has to be held before 1 May 2027.^[24] A presidential election can be scheduled earlier.^[25] In April 2024, Vučić said that general elections will be held in 2027,^[26] while beginning in October 2025, he hinted that they could be held in late 2026.^[27] In March 2026, however, Vučić suggested that the elections could be held separately.^[28] Dragan Popović from the Centre for Practical Politics has suggested that presidential and parliamentary elections could be held together, while former politician Bojan Pajtić said that he was skeptical.^[29] Vladimir Pejić of Faktor Plus has assessed that the elections will be held separately.^[30]

Vučić has denied that he would run for a third term.^[27] In March 2026, Vučić said that he had two or three potential candidates in mind.^[31] The newspaper Danas has reported that the SNS has not found a charismatic candidate yet and that because of it, presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same day, with Vučić as the prime ministerial candidate of SNS.^[32] The newspaper has also suggested Ivica Dačić, the president of SPS, as the government's candidate,^[33] while the magazine Vreme has suggested Vučević, Macut, and Ana Brnabić as potential candidates.^[34]

The journalist Jelena Obućina of Nova suggested Vladan Petrov, the president of the Constitutional Court, as a potential presidential candidate of the SNS.^[35] Vučić also said that it would "not be a bad idea" (nije loša ideja) to see him as a presidential candidate,^[36] having compared him to Albert Einstein.^[37]

Branimir Nestorović, the president of the We – Power of the People political party, has announced his participation in the election.^[38] Zdravko Ponoš, the president of Serbia Centre, said that in case if parliamentary and presidential elections are to be held separate, the largest political movement should nominate a joint presidential candidate, which Ponoš stated was the student movement.^[39]

Although students have announced their participation in the next Serbian parliamentary election, they have not yet announced their participation in the presidential election.^[24] Vladan Đokić, the current rector of the University of Belgrade, in an interview with the magazine Radar, said that his role in the parliamentary or presidential elections will be decided by students and the public.^[40] The political scientist Dušan Spasojević said that Đokić would be a great presidential candidate, but that he should lead an electoral list in the parliamentary elections instead.^[41]