North Macedonia parliament resumes talks on electoral law reforms

North Macedonia electoral law diaspora voting parliamentary negotiations election advertising funding

The North Macedonian Assembly will hold another meeting of coordinators and representatives of parliamentary groups to seek a compromise on changes to the Electoral Law. The governing majority confirmed the session, with VM RO‑DPMNE awaiting positions from SDSM and DUI on its proposal for postal voting for the diaspora, to be regulated by a sub‑law to be adopted by the State Election Commission no later than 30 September 2028.

Levica has called for state financing of election advertising for parties with deputy groups at 10 percent and for decisions in the Commission to be made by consensus, proposals rejected by VM RO‑DPMNE. The most contested issue is the method of diaspora voting: SDSM opposes electronic voting, citing security concerns, while Levica supports it if accompanied by its financing demands.

A working group on the Electoral Law agreed that 97 percent of campaign‑funding resources should be allocated according to the number of parliamentary deputies a party holds, with the remaining 3 percent reserved for parties without representation. The proposed distribution would give 42 percent each to the two largest governing and opposition parties, 8 percent to parties with deputy groups, 5 percent to parties without, and 3 percent to non‑parliamentary parties and voter groups. If a parliamentary consensus is reached, SDSM and Levica say they will withdraw their amendments and unblock the reform, which is the last of ten points in the country's greasing‑period reform agenda.