Poll: Twice as Many Serbian Citizens in Diaspora Ready to Vote in Next Election

BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC

The interest in voting in Serbian elections among the Serbian diaspora, whenever they were to be held, has doubled, according to the results of an opinion poll by an independent civil initiative titled “Diaspora Assembly,” carried out among 911 Serbian citizens who live abroad.

The initiative assessed that the contribution to the reduction of abstinence in the diaspora came from the students’ protests that have been going on for almost a year throughout Serbia, together with the rallies in support of the students that have been held in 212 cities in 55 countries – in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.

According to the results of the poll, presented during the panel discussion of the ProGlas initiative in Belgrade by a retired professor of the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, Marijana Pajvancic, 32 percent of those interviewed voted in the 2023 elections; 69.7 percent stated that they would vote in the next elections, while 19.3 percent said they would probably vote.

The number of Serbian citizens who voted in the 2023 parliamentary elections was 32,216, which is around 6,500 fewer than in 2022 and, according to Pajvancic, the reason is the fact that the presidential election was also held in 2022. The poll showed that 53.7 percent of those interviewed never voted abroad and that they had encountered numerous problems – from administrative and technical obstacles, logistical reasons due to distance to polling stations, to insufficient information and a complicated process of voter registration.