Watchdog Asks Ministry to Shed Light on Voting Notice Issue

Panorama of Belgrade (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

The Serbian democracy watchdog mission CRTA urged the Ministry of State Administration and Local Government on March 27 to explain the situation surrounding voting notices.

CRTA noted that it was responding to public reports by citizens that voting notices ahead of the April 3 election were arriving at their home addresses in the name of deceased persons or persons they did not know. The press release asked that the cases be cleared up urgently to prevent further deterioration of the people's trust in the election process.

CRTA warned that silence by the responsible institutions in these situations, especially just seven days before voting day, can only deepen doubts in the integrity of the election process. CRTA underscored that 20 percent of citizens mistakenly believe that they can only vote with the notice.

The observer mission recalled that it had sent a request to the Ministry even before the elections were called to allow voters to review who was registered to vote at their home address on the Ministry website. CRTA said it had also proposed an independent audit of the voting roll according to international standards, in order to ascertain the state of the electoral roll, which is the first step to its definitive regulation.