RIK Approves Ballot List Forms, Sets October 4 Deadline

Serbia’s Republic Election Commission (RIK) approved a decision on September 11 setting out the forms for submitting candidate lists for members of parliament, two days after President Aleksandar Vucic called an early parliamentary election for October 25. The session was convened within the legally required 72-hour window after the election was called, but much of it was taken up by opposition commission members questioning why the forms had not been ready sooner.

The decision sets out four forms: the candidate list for members of parliament, candidates’ written consent to appear on the list, voters’ statements of support for the list, and the list of voters backing it with their signatures. Vladimir Dimitrijevic, the RIK president, said the decision establishes the official names of the documents required to submit a list.

Disputed vote count

Sources disagree on exactly how the decision was passed. The outlet Sabacke Novosti reports that of the 17 commission members present, 11 voted in favor, three against, and three abstained. N1 and the Tanjug news agency, however, report that the ballot list form was adopted unanimously. As of publication, RIK had not released minutes with the precise vote tally, so both accounts remain in circulation.

During the debate, the commission also approved a change to the layout of the forms: the fields for a candidate’s phone number and place of residence were swapped, a move explained during the session as a way to avoid any suggestion that someone had seen the documents in advance. Several other proposals from opposition commission members were not adopted.

Dusan Dincic, a RIK member from the Lawmakers for Students, for Election Oversight parliamentary group, said the usual practice had been to finalize the forms on the same day an election is called, and asked why this time was different. Commission member Jasmina Belic proposed further amending the forms so that RIK would not share responsibility for any irregularities in how they are applied, and her proposal was adopted.

The commission president responds

Commission member Sofija Mandic said postponing the session had cost time that should have been available to everyone involved in the election process. “You have to tell us what the session was waiting for, because participants in the election process and voters have been robbed of days,” Mandic said during the session.

Dimitrijevic rejected claims that the delay had any ulterior motive. “The elections were called the day before yesterday, and yesterday we scheduled today’s session,” he said, adding that the session had been convened within the legal deadline. He closed by saying: “I join the call for the election process to proceed in a fair atmosphere.”

Deadlines running to October 4

Srpske Vesti had previously reported that RIK was behind schedule in adopting the forms and that the deadline for submitting candidate lists fell on October 4 or 5. With the decision now adopted, that date is confirmed: October 4 is the final deadline for submitting candidate lists, and the voter registry closes on October 9. Until then, election participants must complete all the approved forms, regardless of whether they had a chance to see them in advance, as Mandic contends.