All Croatian citizens aged 18 or more are eligible to vote and be elected.
Nearly 39,000 candidates are running in Sunday's elections and their average age is 45, according to statistics released by the State Election Commission (DIP).
All Croatian citizens over the age of eighteen, including EU citizens, who have residency in local and regional government areas where elections are taking place, have the right to vote.
Mayors and county prefects and their deputies are elected according to the proportional electoral system, with the entire area of a municipality or city, county or the City of Zagreb constituting one constituency.
Runoffs for mayors and county prefects on 30 May
Candidates who win more than 50% of the total votes are elected outright as mayors or county prefects. If no candidate receives the required majority in the first round, the first two vote-getters will vie in a run-off on 30 May.
About 10% of the total of 555 towns and municipalities in Croatia already know who their mayors will be over the next four years because they are sole candidates running in the 16 May local elections.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) can already claim victory in four towns and 44 municipalities, as shown by data on mayoral nominations available on the Election Commission's website.
The ruling party has thus already secured mayoral posts in four towns - Pakrac, Skradin, Nin and Hrvatska Kostajnica as they are running unopposed. Municipalities where HDZ candidates are running unopposed are located in the eastern Osijek-Baranja County.
In addition to the HDZ, some other parties have also already notched victories.
The Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) has sole candidates in two municipalities, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS) each have one such candidate and candidates of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) will face no opposition in three municipalities.
In the southern municipality of Muć, the present long-serving mayor, is also the sole candidate, running as an independent candidate.
Elections to cost over €13.3m
The upcoming elections are expected to cost over HRK 100 million, a member of the State Election Commission (DIP), Slaven Hojski, said recently.
He said that there would be about 14 million ballots in the first round, 30 tonnes of paper will cost about five million kuna. Ten million kuna is for IT support, and 65,000 polling committee members at 6,500 polling stations receive fees. The chairperson of an electoral committee is paid HRK 450, while committee members are paid paid HRK 350 per round.
The fees for 7,000 election commission members range from two to six thousand kuna, depending on the number of polling stations in their remit.
Organising the elections is more demanding considering the stringent anti-epidemic rules and the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) has issued recommendations for local elections.
Infected persons and those in self-isolation to vote under same conditions as in July
Anyone in self-isolation and or infected with coronavirus will vote in the same way they did in the parliamentary elections in July 2020. Electoral committee members will go to their homes, and those infected will be able to cast their vote with the help of another person, to avoid contact between polling committee members and the infected person.
Twenty-five tents to be set up for elections in earthquake-struck Banovina
The procedure for the local election has also been ensured in the earthquake-hit area of Banovina.
Twenty-five tents will be set up the day before the elections, in those places where it is not possible to set up polling stations inside buildings. Thus there will be eight tents in Glina, seven in Petrinja, four in Sisak, and three each in Donji Kukuruzari and Majur.
The election results will be released on election day starting from 9 p.m. and will be updated every 15 minutes.