Student List Files Objection With RIK Over Diaspora Vote

The electoral list Student List - Students Win filed an objection with the Republic Election Commission (RIK) on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. According to the Nova.rs timeline, it happened at 6:49 p.m., and the rally outside the building on Kralja Milana Street began around 6 p.m. The objection targets two RIK decisions adopted on the Foreign Ministry’s proposal: one setting the polling stations abroad and one setting the voting hours there.

We reported earlier that the objection would be filed. Now it is also known what it asks for: that RIK uphold the objections and order the Foreign Ministry to supplement its original proposal of polling stations. The snap parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 25.

What does the Student List claim about polling stations?

According to the Student List, no polling station was opened in 49 cities that meet the legal minimum of 100 registered voters. The number of countries is given in two ways. The list’s earlier statement says 29 countries, while a speaker at the rally, as reported by Danas, mentioned 14.

The authors of the objection go on to say:

• more than 6,500 voters have to travel over 200 kilometers, some of them over 1,000;
• about 12,000 voters will vote at night because the hours are set in Serbian time, and they cite voters in Canada and the US as an example;
• 11 polling stations that operated in 2023 have not been opened this time.

On October 5, RIK decided that voting abroad would take place at 93 polling stations, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central European Time. The Foreign Ministry’s proposal, according to N1, contained 90 stations, the most of them in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 28. RIK Chairman Vladimir Dimitrijevic reminded the session that the previous elections had 81 stations, Telegraf reports. According to Boom93, 20 commission members voted for the decision and seven against. RIK member Zeljka Radeta said the decision complies with the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament. Because of the time difference, the same source says, voting in New Zealand would run from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. local time.

Foreign Minister in the caretaker government Marko Djuric said earlier that the proposal does not take into account only the number of registered voters, but also logistical, security, spatial, staffing and other objective criteria, Telegraf reports.

What was said outside the RIK building?

A student who spoke at the rally, and whose name the sources do not give, said that more than 111,000 citizens have registered to vote abroad, and set out the demand:

“We, students and citizens, demand that RIK uphold these objections as soon as possible and order the Foreign Ministry to supplement its original proposal, and in doing so show whether it stands with Serbia or with the mafia.”

The same speaker or another, according to Danas, declared: “They think we don’t see that in 49 cities around the world, where there are more than enough registered voters, they did not open polling stations, and that in as many as 14 countries. They are forcing over 6,500 of our people to travel more than 200 kilometers, some of them more than 1,000.” He added: “Do you know why they are scheduling a session at 10 at night? Because they think the shame can’t be seen under the cover of darkness.”

Actor and list candidate Bojan Dimitrijevic addressed the crowd and stressed that this is not merely a technical question:

“We are here to demand that RIK respect the right of all citizens of the Republic of Serbia to vote for the National Assembly. This body is obliged to act in the interest of all citizens. This is not just a technical question of organizing elections or of which city will get a polling station. We are talking about whether, in making this decision, the competences and rules that the law prescribes for voting abroad were respected.”

He then said: “RIK is not, and cannot be, a body in which votes are cast on orders.” He ended the rally with the words: “We are filing the objection over all the violations, and we demand that the entire Serbian diaspora be allowed to vote.”

According to Telegraf, the rally was also attended by Democratic Party President Srdjan Milivojevic and Party Presidency member Biljana Stojkovic. Kralja Milana Street was closed to traffic, and police officers stood in front of the building entrance. N1 reported that police did not allow the students to set up a sound system at the spot they had chosen.

When does RIK decide on the objection?

The sources do not answer that question. A speaker at the rally claimed that a session was being scheduled for 10 p.m., but none of the sources reviewed confirms that a session on the objection has been scheduled, or states a deadline by which RIK must decide. The statement on the 47th session, held the same day under Deputy Chairman Marko Jankovic, says the agenda covered only two lists for the November 8 elections of national councils, those of the Ashkali and Bulgarian national minorities.

A RIK working group was due to meet at 2 p.m. the same day to consider a supplement to the decision on polling stations abroad. Commission member Ivan Sebek said, according to Boom93, that the meeting would discuss the criteria and adding more stations, with Herceg Novi, Thessaloniki, Sofia and Istanbul as examples, and that objections to the voting hours would not be considered at that meeting but at a RIK session.