RIK Meets Today at 3 PM to Set Election List Forms

Serbia’s Republic Election Commission has scheduled a session for today at 3 PM to set the forms for submitting election lists for the early parliamentary election on October 25, the portal Masina has learned from unofficial sources. The session falls on the last day of the legal deadline, which expires today.

Under Article 24 of the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, RIK must set the forms within three days of the decision calling the election taking effect. President Aleksandar Vucic called the election on September 9, it was published in the Official Gazette that same day, and the deadline began running from that point. Without these forms, the organized collection of supporting signatures cannot formally begin, even though the campaign is already underway. By law, RIK decisions are published on the commission’s website without delay, and no later than 24 hours after the session at which they were adopted.

List Deadline Is October 4

Srpske Novine previously reported that RIK was running behind on adopting the forms. The deadline for submitting election lists is October 4, by which point notarized voter statements must be filed: 10,000 for regular lists and 5,000 for national minority lists. After submission, RIK has 48 hours to review the documentation and either certify the list or return it for correction, with the submitter then given another 48 hours to fix any deficiencies.

Marinkovic: Notaries Reserved for the Ruling Party

Tanasije Marinkovic, a RIK member and professor of constitutional law, said on N1 on September 10 that the invitation to the session had still not reached commission members. “It’s unusual that RIK hasn’t met either yesterday or today. We still haven’t received the invitation,” Marinkovic said, adding that in previous election cycles the commission had convened the same day the election was called.

Marinkovic went further in assessing the reasons for the delay:

What worries me is that we already have word that certain notaries have been reserved for the needs of the ruling party

He added that reservations had likely also been made for so-called satellite and phantom lists, and that he feared the entire process was being “tuned” to speed up signature collection for the ruling party. Marinkovic also claims RIK missed the legal deadline for issuing instructions on training members of local election commissions and polling boards.

RIK’s Response

RIK told N1 there is no favoritism and that it is not possible for anyone to “prepare” signatures in advance, calling such claims malicious and dangerous. RIK president Vladimir Dimitrijevic said anyone following the upcoming session, at which the candidacy forms will be officially set, can “see for themselves.”

While RIK is awaited, the campaign has not stopped. Zeljko Hubac, one of the organizers of the student list, said today that no list has yet been officially published, since everyone is waiting on these very forms. The outcome of today’s session, then, will determine not only the technical course of the campaign but also whether Tanasije Marinkovic’s suspicions remain a television statement or get confirmed in practice, through who submits certified signatures first.