Macedonian presidential election, 2004
Presidential elections were held in the Republic of Macedonia in two phases during April 2004. The elections were necessitated by the death in an air crash in February of President Boris Trajkovski.
In the first round, held on April 14, 2004, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski of the Social Democratic Union led the poll but failed to secure an absolute majority.
Because no candidate received an absolute majority, on April 28 a second round was held between Crvenkovski and the nationalist candidate Sashko Kedev. Crvenkovski was victorious in this run-off, with two-thirds of the vote compared to Kedev's one third. Turnout was 53.84% – a factor of relevance because, under Macedonia's legislation, a turnout of less than 50% would have invalidated the election.
In the immediate aftermath, Kedev alleged massive electoral fraud.
Results: First Round
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zidi Xhelili | DPA | 78,269 | 8.6 |
| Branko Crvenkovski | SDSM | 385,300 | 42.5 |
| Gzim Ostreni | BDI | 134,048 | 14.8 |
| Sashko Kedev | VMRO | 309,131 | 34.1 |
| Total | 906,748 | - |
Results: Second Round
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branko Crvenkovski | SDSM | 553,522 | 62.70 |
| Sashko Kedev | VMRO | 329,271 | 37.30 |
| Total | 912,605 | 100.0 | |
| spoiled/invalid ballots | 29,812 |
Parties
- BDI - Democratic Union for Integration (Demokratska Unija za Integracija)
- DPA - Democratic Party of Albanians (Demokratska Partija na Albancite)
- SDSM - Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (Socijal Demokratski Sojuz na Makedonija
- VMRO - Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (Vnatrešno Makedonska Revoluciona Organizacija)
Note: Macedonia is recognised by the United Nations and foreign governments as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.