RIK Rushes 700 Million Dinars for New Voting Screens

Serbia’s Republic Election Commission (RIK) decided on August 24 to purchase 30,000 new voting screens, worth 700 million dinars excluding VAT. The job is being awarded through a negotiated procedure without a published public call, meaning without an open tender, and the decision was signed by RIK president Vladimir Dimitrijevic. The delivery deadline is 25 days from the signing of the contract.

In the document itself, in the justification for choosing this procedure, RIK cited a reason for urgency that had not appeared in any official paper from the institution before. According to the justification, the urgency stems from

“the short deadline within which the necessary quantity” of screens should be secured

ahead of elections that, per that same justification, are expected by the end of October. This is the first written trace in a state institution’s document pointing to an election date, even though Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had not formally called the election by August 25.

Why RIK Is Skipping the Tender

As justification for the direct deal, RIK’s explanation states that a regular open procedure requires a bid submission period of at least 15 days, which the commission says would not leave enough time for delivery before a potential vote. As an additional argument, the commission cites recommendations from the ODIHR mission, along with the claim that the current cardboard screens do not guarantee sufficient secrecy of the vote. The name of the company getting the job is not disclosed in the decision.

To carry out the procurement, RIK formed a five member commission: chair Veljko Perovic, members Maja Pejcic and Marko Danilovic, with Dario Kukoc and Sladjana Vasic named as deputies. RIK adopted the procurement decision with 10 votes in favor and 3 against.

At the same session, according to what RIK has published, members also held a separate debate on whether polling stations should have only the new, box type screens or both the new ones and the old cardboard ones, with voters allowed to choose. That proposal passed with 11 votes in favor and 5 against. RIK member Vladimir Dragas said at the time that there was no element of urgency, since the election had not formally been called yet, and warned that introducing the new screens would be costly.

When the Election Could Be Called

Vucic has previously said the new screens are a “global requirement” sought by ODIHR, and announced that Serbia would set aside seven to eight million euros for them, a larger sum than the one now stated in RIK’s decision. He has also mentioned October 18 or 25 as possible dates for parliamentary elections, but by August 25 no formal decision on calling the election had been made. Srpske vesti previously wrote about the election announcement and the first moves ahead of the campaign in the article Vucic Calls the Election, Heads to a Blockader’s Village.

The 25 day deadline that RIK set for itself for delivering the screens leaves the institutions enough time to secure the equipment even for an October date, and that, together with the document itself, is the clearest sign that the election administration is already preparing for the autumn cycle, regardless of when the formal call comes.