Parliament Passed a New Law on Electoral Districts

The Croatian Parliament has passed a new Law on Electoral Districts for the election of representatives to the Croatian Parliament, which does not change the existing electoral system but alters the maps of electoral districts to a certain extent, resulting in about one-fifth of voters (22 percent) changing the district they are currently in.

The law received support from 77 representatives, while 56 were against it.

Future parliamentary representatives, numbering 151, will be elected by Croatian voters according to the existing model, in 10 electoral districts with 14 representatives each, eight representatives will be elected by members of national minorities, and three by the Croatian diaspora, i.e., Croatian citizens without residence in Croatia in special electoral districts.

The new law, as reiterated by the government that proposed it, respects the equal weight of the electoral vote in each district and meets the conditions set by the Constitutional Court’s decision, which annulled the existing Law on Electoral Districts in February of this year, which will cease to be valid on October 1 of this year.

Ten new electoral districts have been determined in such a way that the number of voters is within the legal framework of +/- 5 percent, meaning that in none of the districts the deviations exceed +/- 2.20 percent. The data from the voter register has been taken as the starting point for the number of voters in each electoral district.

Zagreb in Three, Instead of Four Electoral Districts

The reshuffling of electoral districts brings the greatest change to Zagreb, which is now divided into three electoral districts instead of four. Zagreb now falls under the first, second, and sixth electoral districts.

The first electoral district encompasses the central districts of Zagreb, Velika Gorica, and several other municipalities.

The second includes the Bjelovar-Bilogora County, the southern part of the Koprivnica-Križevci County, Zagreb County, and the eastern part of the city of Zagreb.

The third, as before, consists of the Varaždin, Međimurje, and Krapina-Zagorje counties, as well as several municipalities in Zagreb County.

The fourth electoral district includes the Osijek-Baranja, Virovitica-Podravina, and northern parts of the Koprivnica-Križevci County.

The fifth, as before, encompasses three Slavonian counties – Vukovar-Srijem, Brod-Posavina, and Požega-Slavonia, as well as the eastern parts of the Sisak-Moslavina County.

The sixth electoral district consists of the western part of Zagreb and parts of Zagreb County.

The seventh electoral district, which is also the largest, represents central Croatia, i.e., parts of the country with the highest depopulation – the entire Lika-Senj County, the northern part of Zadar, parts of Primorje-Gorski Kotar, the entire Karlovac County, and the western and northern parts of the Sisak-Moslavina County.

The eighth includes Istria County, the city of Rijeka, and certain towns and municipalities in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

The ninth district includes the northwestern part of Split-Dalmatia County, the entire Šibenik-Knin County, and parts of Zadar County, including the city of Zadar.

The tenth electoral district includes the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and parts of Split-Dalmatia County.

Benčić: The Opposition Will Seek a Constitutional Review of the Law

After the government, the Parliament also rejected opposition amendments to rearrange some electoral districts, reduce the number of representatives elected by national minorities, and allow the diaspora to vote by mail and electronically.

The opposition reiterated its dissatisfaction with the final appearance of the law, the process, and the transparency of its adoption.

Sandra Benčić (We Can) stated that changes to the electoral law have never been made in such a ‘bizarre’ manner, where the opposition was not included, there was no expert working group, and to this day, it is unknown who the members of the group that drafted it are.

The consequence is classic electoral engineering in the style of HDZ, she said, announcing that the opposition will submit a request for a constitutional review of the law.

Dalija Orešković (Center) points to the fact that there are 500,000 more people on the voter list than there are adult citizens, thus calling for a third reading of the law and the organization of the voter register.

Marijan Pavliček (HS) claims that the law is tailored to suit HDZ and the ruling majority, questioning what connection Croatia Dubica and Karlobag have in the same district, and why mail voting is not allowed?

‘Let’s return the child to the mother,’ said Emil Daus (IDS), stating that the 8th district is the best example of electoral engineering. There is no justification for Matulji to be in the 7th, while Bakar and Novi Vinodolski are in the 8th electoral district, he said, insisting that the two cities remain in the 7th, while Matulji should be in the 8th electoral district.