Students in Blockade Rally at RIK Over Diaspora Polls

Students in blockade have called a gathering outside the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) for Wednesday, October 7, starting at 6 p.m. The action is titled “They Won’t Make It Tonight,” and its aim is to file an objection to the decision on polling stations abroad jointly. The call was published on the morning of October 6.

What are the students asking of RIK?

The objection is aimed at a decision RIK made on the basis of a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The call appeared on the Instagram account @studenti_u_blokadi, which runs under the name 3. Studentska lista, Studenti pobedjuju. The post also gives a rationale, arguing that the decision makes it harder for citizens in the diaspora to vote:

“Together we are filing an objection to the decision of the Republic Electoral Commission, made on the basis of the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which makes it harder for citizens in the diaspora to exercise their right to vote.”

That is how the students worded the post announcing the gathering. The message does not say what the objection itself contains.

What did RIK decide on polling stations abroad?

RIK voted on the proposal for polling stations abroad on October 4, after midnight. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had submitted the list earlier, and three days have passed between that session and the announced gathering. RIK president Vladimir Dimitrijevic said there were 81 polling stations abroad at the previous elections, while the Ministry’s proposal provides for 93. That is 12 more, a little under 15 percent. The total number of stations is therefore rising compared with the last elections, and the objections concern how the list was drawn up and what it means for voters.

The decision did not pass without objections inside the commission itself. Some RIK members criticized the proposal at the session and warned that the voting rights of a large number of diaspora voters would be at risk. According to what they said, they did not receive an adequate explanation from the ministry of how the list was put together. The members are not named in the published reports.

The newsroom has already covered the decision, in a piece on the 93 polling stations abroad, which do not include Geneva.

Have RIK and the ministry responded?

The reports on the announced gathering that we reviewed contain no response from either RIK or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Early parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 25, which is 18 days after the gathering outside the commission’s building.