A vehicle queue at least five kilometers long formed on the road to Jarinje during the late morning hours today, as citizens from northern Kosovo made their way to polling stations in Raška, where they are voting in Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections. Vehicles have been parked along the roadside, while large groups of people are walking both toward the crossing and back.
While some complain of exhaustion, poor organization and enormous crowds, the Kosovo Police claim their officers are not causing delays. However, near the special police base, about one kilometer from the crossing, the KoSSev team encountered officers stopping vehicles and allowing them through intermittently. Buses transporting voters in organized groups were specifically instructed to leave the queue and take an alternative route. Our team witnessed this happening to at least four buses.
The KoSSev team encountered exceptionally heavy traffic on the road to Jarinje during the late morning hours, with the queue of vehicles stretching for at least five kilometers.
Because of the delays, many citizens are leaving their cars by the roadside and continuing on foot. Large groups of people can be seen moving in both directions along the road — some are heading to vote in Raška, while others are returning after exercising their right to vote.
Among those walking are a significant number of citizens who have been crossing the administrative line on foot since the early morning hours — the border, as Kosovo authorities call it.
Most of the citizens encountered by the KoSSev team were not willing to speak to reporters.
Nevertheless, some briefly commented that they were tired, that the organization was poor and that the crowds were enormous. Others used symbolic gestures to express their political will.
Police claim they are not causing delays; vehicle checks near special unit base
The Kosovo Police maintain that their officers are not creating problems for citizens traveling to polling stations in central Serbia today.
However, the KoSSev team encountered police officers near the special police base, located about one kilometer from the Jarinje crossing, where they were stopping and inspecting vehicles, allowing them through intermittently and directing buses out of the queues.
Additional police forces had previously been announced unofficially, along with the possibility of checking documents using mobile teams equipped with tablets in order to speed up the passage of citizens.
Nevertheless, during its late-morning visit to the road leading to Jarinje, the KoSSev team did not encounter any such mobile teams carrying out checks with tablets.
It is not yet known whether these teams have been deployed at other locations or whether they are expected to begin operating later in the day.
Voting in Raška, with crowds building since early morning
As in previous Serbian parliamentary elections, citizens from northern Kosovo are voting outside Kosovo.
Polling stations in Raška have been designated for voters from most of the Kosovo Mitrovica District, while voters from Zubin Potok are voting in Tutin.
All polling stations in Raška opened on time this morning, but KoSSev readers had been reporting heavy crowds since the early morning hours, which they described as larger than those seen in previous elections.
For today’s parliamentary elections, a total of 100,413 voters from Kosovo have been assigned to 60 polling stations in Raška, Tutin, Kuršumlija and Vranje.
There have been several reports of people becoming unwell while voting. We also recorded the testimony of a woman from Mitrovica who said she was struck in a crowd in the area of a surgical wound, causing her to collapse.
Voting continues until 8 p.m.
For many citizens from northern Kosovo, however, getting to the polls today means several hours of travel, waiting in queues and walking to and from the crossing.
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