At Stake in this Election:

• All 151 seats in the Croatian Assembly

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Zoran MILANOVIĆ (since 18 February 2020)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIĆ (since 19 October 2016)
• Assembly: unicameral Assembly (Hrvatski Sabor) with 151 seats

Electoral System:

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in two-rounds if necessary. The Presidents may serve up to two 5-year terms.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Assembly. The Prime Minister is typically the leader of the majority party or coalition.
• In the Assembly, 140 members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies. An additional 3 members are elected in a single constituency representing the Croatian diaspora. The other 8 members are elected by simple majority vote from a national constituency by voters who belong to recognized minority groups: Serbs (3), Hungarians (1), Italians (1), Czechs/Slovaks (1), other minorities (1). All 151 members serve 4-year terms.

Last Election:

In the 2020 legislative election, a coalition led by the Croatian Democratic Union won the largest share of seats (66). Seven additional coalitions and parties also won seats. Voter turnout was 46.44%.

Information for Voters:

Citizens in Politics / Građani u političkom životu (available in English and Croatian).

New/Unique in this Election:

On 14 March 2024, the Assembly voted unanimously to dissolve, prompting a snap election. The presidential election European Union parliamentary elections will also take place this year, but not concurrently.

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate registration deadline: 29 March 2024
• Voter registration deadline: N/A; Voter registration is passive and residence-based.

Main Parties in this Election:

• Croatian Democratic Union / Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (HDZ)
  • Leader: Andrej PLENKOVIĆ
  • Seats won in the last election: 61 seats out of 151
• Social Democratic Party of Croatia / Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske (SDP)
  • Leader: Peđa GRBIN
  • Seats won in the last election: 34 seats out of 151
• Social Democrats / Socijaldemokrati (SD)
  • Leader: Davorko VIDOVIĆ
  • Seats won in the last election: N/A (split from SDP in 2021)
• Homeland Movement / Domovinski pokret (DP)
  • Leader: Ivan PENAVA
  • Seats won in the last election: 11 seats out of 151
• The Bridge / Most (MOST)
  • Leader: Božo PETROV
  • Seats won in the last election: 8 seats out of 151

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 3,855,600 (2022 estimate)
• Registered Voters: 3,672,555 (2020)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 1,977,680 (2022 estimate)
• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by succession) 9 September 1992
• Gender Quota:  Yes, candidates of each gender should occupy no less than 40% of candidate slots on each party list.
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 48 out of 151 (31.8%) in the Assembly
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.878, Very High, Rank 39 (2022)  
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 16.9 (2023)

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 15 August 2007
• Projected population with a disability: 616,896 (2022 estimate)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in Croatia: No
• Election Access: Yes
• Election Judgements: Yes, 8 resources