# 1997 Serbian general election

General elections were held in the Yugoslav province of Serbia on 21 September 1997, to elect the president and members of the National Assembly. With no presidential candidate receiving over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round was held on 5 October. Running on a platform of nationalism and neoliberal economic reforms, Vojislav Šešelj of the Serbian Radical Party received the most votes in the runoff. However, voter turnout was only 49%, below the required 50%. As a result, the elections were annulled, and fresh elections were scheduled for December.
In the National Assembly elections, the Socialist Party of Serbia–Yugoslav Left–New Democracy coalition emerged as the largest in the Assembly, winning 110 of the 250 seats.
The elections were boycotted by several major opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Serbia and the Civic Alliance of Serbia, which claimed that the elections would not be held under fair conditions. Most Kosovo Albanians also boycotted the elections, who made up around 17% of the population, due to increasing ethnic tensions in Kosovo.

## Electoral lists

Following electoral lists are electoral lists that received seats in the National Assembly after the 1997 election:
| # | Ballot name | Representative | Main ideology | Political position |
| 1 | Socialist Party of Serbia, Yugoslav Left, New Democracy – Slobodan MiloševićSPS, JUL, ND | Slobodan Milošević | Socialism | Left-wing |
| 2 | Serbian Radical Party – dr Vojislav ŠešeljSRS | Vojislav Šešelj | Ultranationalism | Far-right |
| 3 | Serbian Renewal Movement – Vuk DraškovićSPO | Vuk Drašković | Conservatism | Centre-right |
| 4 | Coalition "Vojvodina" – Miodrag Mile Isakov – Nenad ČanakLSV, NSS, RDSV | Nenad Čanak | Vojvodina autonomism | Centre-left |
| 5 | Alliance of Vojvodina HungariansVMSZ/SVM | József Kasza | Minority politics | Centre-left |
| 6 | "List for Sandžak dr Sulejman Ugljanin"SDAS, BDSS | Sulejman Ugljanin | Minority politics | Right-wing |
| 7 | Democratic Alternative (DA) – Peasant Party of Serbia (SSS) – Pensioners Party of Serbia (PPS) – Nebojša ČovićDA, SSS, PPS | Nebojša Čović | Social democracy | Centre-left |
| 8 | Democratic Coalition Preševo–BujanovacDKPB | Ramadan Ameti | Minority politics | Centre |

## Results
### Presidential

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Zoran Lilić | Left Coalition (SPS–JUL–ND) | 1,474,924 | 37.12 | 1,691,354 | 49.38 |
| | Vojislav Šešelj | Serbian Radical Party | 1,126,940 | 28.36 | 1,733,859 | 50.62 |
| | Vuk Drašković | Serbian Renewal Movement | 852,808 | 21.46 | | |
| | Mile Isakov | Vojvodina Coalition | 111,166 | 2.80 | | |
| | Vuk Obradović | Social Democracy | 100,523 | 2.53 | | |
| | Nebojša Čović | Democratic Alternative–SSS | 93,133 | 2.34 | | |
| | Sulejman Ugljanin | List for Sandžak (SDA S) | 68,446 | 1.72 | | |
| | Milisav Banković | Workers' Party of Yugoslavia | 49,158 | 1.24 | | |
| | Milan Paroški | People's Party | 27,100 | 0.68 | | |
| | Miodrag Vidojković | Independent | 14,105 | 0.36 | | |
| | Predrag Vuletić | Liberal Democratic Party | 11,463 | 0.29 | | |
| | Dragan Đorđević | Party of Citizens of Serbia | 10,684 | 0.27 | | |
| | Milan Mladenović | Revival Coalition | 10,112 | 0.25 | | |
| | Đorđe Drljačić | Independent | 9,430 | 0.24 | | |
| | Branko Čičić | Natural Law Party | 7,097 | 0.18 | | |
| | Gvozden Sakić | Independent | 3,293 | 0.08 | | |
| | Radomir Tukmanović | Progressive Party | 2,647 | 0.07 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,973,029 | 100.00 | 3,425,213 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,973,029 | 96.23 | 3,425,213 | 97.05 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 155,860 | 3.77 | 104,223 | 2.95 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,128,889 | 100.00 | 3,529,436 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 7,187,936 | 57.44 | 7,210,557 | 48.95 |
| Source: RIK |||||||

### Parliamentary

| | Left Coalition (SPS–JUL–ND) | 1,418,036 | 35.70 | 110 | –18 |
| | Serbian Radical Party | 1,162,216 | 29.26 | 82 | +43 |
| | Serbian Renewal Movement | 793,988 | 19.99 | 45 | +8 |
| | Vojvodina Coalition (LSV–NSS–RV) | 112,589 | 2.83 | 4 | +3 |
| | Social Democracy | 105,068 | 2.64 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Alternative–Peasants Party–Pensioners' Party | 60,855 | 1.53 | 1 | +1 |
| | Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians | 50,960 | 1.28 | 4 | New |
| | List for Sandžak | 49,486 | 1.25 | 3 | New |
| | Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians | 16,986 | 0.43 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians | 16,812 | 0.42 | 0 | –5 |
| | New Communist Party of Yugoslavia | 16,222 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 |
| | Radical Party "Nikola Pasic" | 15,986 | 0.40 | 0 | New |
| | People's Party | 15,232 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Coalition Preševo-Bujanovac | 14,179 | 0.36 | 1 | New |
| | Natural Law Party | 8,957 | 0.23 | 0 | New |
| | League of Communists of Yugoslavia in Serbia | 5,760 | 0.14 | 0 | New |
| | Party of Serbian Unity | 5,590 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina | 5,375 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Vojvodina's Party | 4,790 | 0.12 | 0 | New |
| | Party of Serbian Citizens | 4,508 | 0.11 | 0 | New |
| | Rebirth Coalition – Foreign Currency Savers Party | 3,727 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | Alliance of Subotica Citizens | 3,647 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | Sandžak Coalition | 3,606 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | Serbian Resistance Movement – Democratic Movement | 3,299 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| | Pensioners Democratic Party of Serbia | 2,956 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | Christian Democratic Movement of Vojvodina Hungarians | 2,702 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | Rebirth Coalition | 2,652 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | Serbian Peasants' Party | 2,197 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| | Civic Movement of Vojvodina Hungarians | 2,181 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Workers' Party of Yugoslavia | 2,141 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | New Radical Party – Party of the People | 2,116 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Foreign Currency Savers Party | 1,895 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | Movement for the Protection of Human Rights | 1,849 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | Christian Democratic Union | 1,772 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | Serbian Peasants' Party – People's Party | 1,489 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Alliance of Independent Citizens "For Zemun" | 1,243 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Radical Party | 1,225 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Vojvodina Green Party | 1,125 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | League of Communists of Yugoslavia | 1,026 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Solidarity | 891 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Green Party | 772 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communist Party of Yugoslavia | 749 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 |
| | Sandžak Workers Social Democratic Party | 674 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | 503 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | "Serbian Citizens" – Serbian Citizens Party | 477 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | United Opposition of Šumadija | 440 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Rebirth Coalition–Foreign Currency Savers Party–Radical Party | 355 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Yugoslav Working Class "Josip Broz Tito" | 351 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Rebirth Coalition–Monarchist Party of Serbia | 296 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | CP of Yugoslavia – Perspective Movement – WP of Yugoslavia | 283 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Universalist Movement | 124 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 40,110 | 1.01 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 3,972,468 | 100.00 | 250 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,972,468 | 96.03 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 164,307 | 3.97 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 4,136,775 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 7,210,386 | 57.37 | | |
| Source: Republican Electoral Commission ||||||