Elections in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska: The challenges of representation

This paper analyzes the participation of national minorities in local elections in the Republic of Serbia, with a particular focus on the most recent ones held on December 17, 2023, and June 2, 2024. Our primary attention is on the parties of the largest national minorities in Serbia - Hungarians, Bosniaks, and Albanians - and collectively, on the parties of other national minorities. This paper aims to indicate the trajectories of minority representation at the local level in Serbia. The authors use descriptive statistics to provide findings on the results of minority parties in local elections in Serbia since the restoration of multiparty politics. The main research question is whether the developments in electoral law have affected the representation of national minorities at the local level in Serbia and their broader social integration. The second question relates to the degree of homogeneity of minority communities in Serbia, given that some are territorially concentrated in certain geographical regions, while others are territorially dispersed. Also, to what extent does positive discrimination affect the number of minority parties, given the more liberal conditions for minority political organization and participation in elections?