The elections for members of national minority councils and minority representatives in units of local self-government and counties in Croatia began with the opening of 3,730 polling stations throughout the country at 0700 hrs Sunday.
A total of 362,317 voters are eligible to elect 311 councils in 187 units of local authorities and 227 representatives in 129 local communities, the Croatian State Election Commission (DIP) has reported.
Councils and representatives are elected to facilitate the exercise of ethnic minorities' rights to participate in the public life and work for their interests in communities where they live.
A total of 14 minorities, entitled to choosing their councils, have submitted their candidates for councils, and all 18 ethnic minorities, except for the Romanian minority, that are entitled to choosing representatives, have submitted candidacies for their representatives.
These are the third elections for local councils representing minorities and for their local representatives.
The polling stations close at 1900 hrs Sunday.
