site.btaUPDATED Based on 60% of Tally Sheets, Gordana Siljanovska Wins Nearly 38% of Votes in First Round of North Macedonia's Presidential Elections

Based on 59.59% of processed tally sheets in North Macedonia's presidential elections on Wednesday, Gordana Siljanovska (VMRO-DPMNE) won 37.8% of the votes, the incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, backed by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), is second with 18.66% and Bujar Osmani, backed by the Democratic Union for Integration (DSI), is third with 15.63% of the vote.

The turnout in the first round of the presidential elections at the end of Election Day was over 48%, the State Election Commission said. A total of 48.46% of the country's voters exercised their right to vote in the election of one of the seven presidential candidates.

The candidate who won an absolute majority of the total number of voters registered on the electoral list is considered elected in the first round in the presidential election. If this condition is not met, the two presidential candidates with the most votes go to a second round of elections, which will be held together with the parliamentary elections on May 8.