Croatia

The 151 members of the unicameral Croatian Parliament (Parliament) are directly elected at least every 4 years in a two-tier, open-list proportional representation system, in 10 regional plus 2 special constituencies. The legal electoral threshold is 5% per constituency. Due to the constituency structure and the method of seat allocation (D'Hondt method), the system is biased towards larger parties even above the threshold. Voting is open-list, with voters can mark one candidate on the list of their choice (these are called preferential votes).

14 members are elected in each of the 10 regional constituencies. In the 11th constituency, 3 members are elected by citizens living abroad in the same way as in the 10 regional constituencies (via an open list). In the 12th constituency, a total of 8 representatives of national minorities are elected, of which 3 are Serbian, 1 Hungarian, 1 Italian, furthermore 1 representative is jointly reserved for Czechs and Slovaks and another 2 for all other nationalities. The voting method is a single-choice candidate vote.

The 'open list' voting in regional constituencies is actually relatively closed ('semi-open' or 'flexible list'), as a candidate can only jump forward on the list if they have obtained 10% of the votes cast for the given list in the given district. Among such candidates, the number of preferential votes obtained is decisive, and in the event of an equal number of votes, the original order of the list is decisive.

The minimum age for both active suffrage (the right to vote) and passive (standing for election) is 18 years. Voting is not compulsory, voting in person at diplomatic missions abroad is possible, but postal voting, online voting, and proxy voting are not. 

The president (head of state) is directly elected for a 5-year term in a two-round system and may be re-elected once, so the same person can be president for a maximum of 2 terms in total, i.e. 10 years (the two terms do not have to be consecutive). The first round is held via a single-choice vote and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the second round if no one receives a majority (more than half of the valid votes, 50%+) in the first round.

MEPs from Croatia are elected every 5 years (at the same time as in the other EU member states). The entire country forms one constituency, in which 12 MEPs were elected in 2024. Due to "degressive proportionality", Croatian voters have more representatives per capita than the EU average.

The main principle in the election of the Parliament (within the countries) is proportionality: by default, only a proportional system can be used, but beyond this, the member states decide for themselves what type. Croatia, like most member states, uses an open-list proportional system. This means that voters can vote not only for a party list, but also for a candidate on the list, thus allowing them the chance to collectively change the predetermined order of the candidates. The allocation of seats between parties is done using the the D'Hondt (Jefferson) method. There is a legal electoral threshold of 5%, but in practice (due to the 12 seats) a minimum of about 7.5% is required to obtain a seat.

The minimum age for both active suffrage (the right to vote) and passive suffrage (standing for election) is 18 years. Voting not compulsory, voting at embassies is possible (from other EU member states and third countries), however, postal voting, online voting or proxy voting are not possible.

This is the description of the electoral system of Croatia as of 05.06.2026 on Electoral Knowledgebase. Sources and further information on this topic:

• 2024 European Parliament elections: National rules (European Parliament)

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