*Note: A second round was held on 11 January 2015 between Ivo JOSIPOVIC and Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC.  For more information, please see http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/2837/.   

At stake in this election:       

• The office of President of Croatia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ivo JOSIPOVIC (since 18 February 2010)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Zoran MILANOVIC (since 23 December 2011)
• Assembly: Croatia has a unicameral Assembly (Sabor) with 151 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, approved by the assembly.
• 140 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms, 8 members are reserved by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms and 5 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** The seat share apportioned to diaspora voters (currently 3) is based on diaspora voter turnout and can be no more than 12. 8 seats are reserved to 22 recognized minorities. The remaining seats are elected in 10 14-member districts.

Election Note:

On Sunday 28 December 2014, Croatia will hold an election for president.[i] It is the first election for president since Croatia joined the European Union EU) in 2013.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Candidate: Ivo JOSIPOVIC
  • Party: Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) *
• Candidate: Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC
  • Party: Croatia Democratic Union (HDZ)
• Candidate: Milan KUJUNDZIC
  • Party: Croatian Dawn (HZ)

*President JOSIPOVIC is an independent but supported by the ruling SDP.

Last election:

• The last election for the office of president in Croatia was held on 10 January 2010.[ii] Turnout was 50.17 percent and 2,439,754 of 4,495,528 people casted ballots.[iii] Ivo JOSIPOVIC of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) won 60 percent of the vote, while his opponent, Milan BANDIC, an Independent, won 40%. Results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 4,470,534 (July 2014 est)[iv]
• Registered Voters: 2,253,570 (2010)[v]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 2,315,218 (July 2014 est)[vi]
• Is Croatia a signatory to CEDAW: No.[vii]
• Has Croatia ratified CEDAW: Yes (9 September 1992)[viii]
• Gender Quota:  No. But there are Voluntary Political Party Quotas (the Social Democratic Party has 40% quota on election rolls).[ix]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 36 (24%) of 151 seats in Croatia’s Assembly (Sabor).[x]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 47.[xi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: None (latest categorizations are from 2014)[xii]