(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 08 GIU - There is anticipation in Serbia for the outcome of the local elections being held today in the towns of Zajecar (east) and Kosjeric (west), the first round of voting since the start of the anti-government student protest movement last November, which many are looking at as a first test, albeit a very partial and limited one, of the impact of such social contestation on the hold of the majority Sns party. The poll covers a total of about 56,000 voters (47,000 in Zajecar and nearly 9,000 in Kosjeric), and turnout in the afternoon was expected to be strong. Both President Aleksandar Vucic and the leader of the conservative Serbian Progress Party (Sns) Milos Vucevic said on the eve of the event they were convinced of a new success in the polls, while the opposition, which gives support to students, also expects a positive result. Voting operations-scheduled to run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.-have so far gone largely smoothly, with a few complaints of procedural irregularities at a few polling stations. Born to demand justice and as a reaction to the deaths of 16 people in the collapse at the Novi Sad (north) station on Nov. 1 -- an incident attributed to rampant corruption, neglect and poor monitoring -- the students' protest has gradually taken on overtly political connotations with accusations against the leadership of poor democracy and control over the media, and with calls for early elections. (ANSA).