THE PROBLEM ISN’T THAT SERBS ABROAD HAVE TO TRAVEL MILES: Republic Electoral Commission rejects complaint over inaccessible polling stations abroad!

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has rejected, due to an insufficient number of votes in favor, a voter complaint concerning the inaccessibility of polling stations for the October 25 parliamentary elections, specifically the distance between polling stations abroad and voters’ places of residence.

Fourteen of the 30 RIK members present voted in favor of the complaint, while one member voted against it, meaning the complaint was deemed rejected.

RIK member and rapporteur Ivan Đorđević said the commission was obliged to ensure that polling stations were accessible to people with disabilities, but that this obligation did not extend to the distance to the polling station.

He stated that the allegations in the complaint were unfounded and that there was no discrimination in this particular case.

RIK member Sofija Mandić said the voter complaint did not concern accessibility for people with disabilities and criticized rapporteur Đorđević’s presentation.

She noted that Serbian citizens living abroad have to travel many miles to exercise their right to vote and that, in this context, polling stations are inaccessible.

She called on the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to change its decision on voting by the diaspora abroad and enable Serbian citizens to exercise their right to vote.

The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed opening 90 polling stations abroad for the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25, with the largest number — 28 — in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On October 5, RIK adopted a decision stipulating that polling stations abroad would operate from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central European Time, the same hours as polling stations in Serbia. This means that in some parts of the world, voting will take place during the night according to local time.