Kosovo Voters to Vote in Vranje, Raska, Kursumlija, Tutin
Serbia's Republic Electoral Commission assigned voters from Kosovo and Metohija to four towns by administrative district. The election is October 25.
Where do voters from Kosovo and Metohija cast their ballots?
Voters whose polling stations are located in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija will vote in the parliamentary election on October 25 in Vranje, Raska, Kursumlija and Tutin. The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) made the decision at its 46th session, held on the evening of Monday, October 5, chaired by RIK president Vladimir Dimitrijevic.
The assignment follows administrative districts:
- Vranje: voters from the Kosovo-Pomoravlje administrative district
- Raska: voters from the Kosovska Mitrovica administrative district, except voters from the municipalities of Zubin Potok and Vucitrn
- Kursumlija: voters from the Kosovo administrative district and voters from the municipality of Vucitrn
- Tutin: voters from the Pec and Prizren administrative districts and voters from the municipality of Zubin Potok
The decision covers voters whose polling stations lie in territory where an election cannot be held. According to the portal 24sedam, the reason is that the provisional institutions in Pristina prevent elections from taking place. RIK’s post about the session does not state a reason.
Two deadlines in different reports
Media reports differ on the deadlines, and the text of the RIK decision was not available, so it cannot be confirmed which wording is official. According to 24sedam, the local election commissions for Pristina, Gnjilane, Gora, Kosovska Mitrovica and Pec set the specific polling stations by October 7 at the latest, in cooperation with the authorities of those local governments. According to Slavija-info, InfoVranjske and the Serbian Times, the local election commissions will be appointed by October 14. These may be two separate steps, but that cannot be established from the available sources.
What else was on the session agenda
At the same session, RIK rejected as unfounded, according to a post on its website, a complaint from voter Ana Erakovic Nesic of Nis. It also adopted decisions on dismissals, terminations of office and new appointments in local election commissions.
The commission also certified the electoral lists “Albanian Coalition” and “Mother Serbia - Gruda” and gave both the status of a national minority list. According to Slavija-info, RIK member Tanasije Marinkovic said the “Mother Serbia - Gruda” list had not received an opinion from the national council of the Slovak minority and that RIK should take care to prevent abuse of minority status. Rapporteur Zoran Lukic replied that such an opinion is not a condition for certifying a list.
Timeline of decisions on polling stations
The Kosovo and Metohija decision continues a series RIK began a day earlier. At its 44th session on October 4, the commission adopted a decision on designating polling stations abroad and a decision on when voting starts and ends there. We have already reported on that arrangement: RIK designated 93 polling stations abroad, without Geneva.
On the same day it decided on Kosovo and Metohija voters, October 5, Dimitrijevic met Eoghan Murphy, head of the ODIHR observation mission, and briefed the mission on the commission’s activities so far in the election process.
