Croatian voters will go to the polls early Wednesday to elect new members to the country’s 151-seat parliament.
Polling booths in the newest member of the European Union will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time (0500GMT-1700GMT) for around 3.73 million registered voters and more than 222,000 voters living abroad.
Voting began on Tuesday for individuals living outside the country and will continue until 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to the State Election Commission, there are 2,302 candidates running for seats in parliament, with 42% of them women.
The unofficial first election results will be announced around midnight Wednesday.
The ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is the favorite to pick up the most seats, according to surveys.
President Zoran Milanovic is one of the Rivers of Justice coalition’s candidates, despite a Constitutional Court finding that he must resign as president in order to compete for parliament.
Milanovic, whose candidacy in the general elections sparked controversy, has stated that he will retire if elected to parliament.
Many say that Milanovic aims to dissuade Croatian voters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where there will be no election holiday, from voting for HDZ by scheduling the elections during the work week rather than on Sunday.
If Milanovic wins a seat in parliament and resigns from the presidency, the president of the Croatian Parliament or the vice president must take his place.
The party or coalition that will form the new government must have at least 76 MPs.
Also, 140 of the 151 deputies will be elected from constituencies within the country, three from the Croatian diaspora, and eight from minority parties.
Croatian general elections are held every four years.
