Nis: Verifiers Refuse Student List Signatures

Students behind the blockade at the University of Nis announced last night that municipal verifiers in the city were refusing to go out into the field and certify signatures for their electoral list, and they called on citizens to gather urgently in front of the Nis City Assembly. The rally was held on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m., and passed off peacefully, with no incidents. Today, Sunday, September 13, signature collection continues, and the students say the pressure from the street paid off.

Request filed Thursday, refused twice

The request to certify signatures for the candidacy of the citizens’ group Student List, Students Are Winning was filed back on Thursday, September 10, for time slots on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. According to the students, the verifiers refused to act on the request even though it was filed on time and came with all the required documentation. When they turned to Goran Djordjevic, acting head of the City Administration for City Bodies, Civil Status and Human Resources, they say they were refused again.

Even though the request was filed on time and accompanied by all the necessary documentation, municipal verifiers are now refusing to go out into the field and certify citizens’ signatures, the students said in their statement.

In the same statement, the students said this conduct was making it harder for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote and be elected.

This conduct, without any justified reason, directly obstructs and prevents the exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution, they said.

The statement also said that, in the students’ assessment, this conduct bears the hallmarks of a criminal offense under Article 154 of the Criminal Code, violation of the right to run for office. That is a legal assessment by the student group itself, not an established fact, since no competent authority has ruled on whether a criminal offense occurred.

Rally outside the City Assembly

At the rally outside the Assembly building, which drew a large number of citizens after the students’ call, one student representative told the crowd that the list already had enough signatures for its candidacy, but that something else was being demanded.

We’re not asking for a privilege, we’re not asking for an exception. We’re asking for the law to be followed, the student representative told those gathered.

He also pointed to the citizens who had spent the day waiting for a chance to sign.

Standing here are citizens of Nis who showed today a readiness this city hasn’t seen before. They came, they waited, they wanted to sign, he added.

According to gledaj.rs, students and citizens briefly blocked Nikola Pasic Street that evening after being told that public notaries would not be certifying signatures for their list on Sunday. Media reports do not specify exactly how long the blockade lasted.

Signing resumes at several locations

The students announced today that signature collection is continuing, saying last night’s pressure produced results. N1 and Resetka report that signing is taking place today at three locations: the Ambasador shopping center, the Ban cafe on Sindjelic Square, and 41 Pantelejska Street, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gledaj.rs additionally lists a fourth address, University Square 5, while the Ambasador location is specified further as the side entrance, second floor, office number 19. Sources differ on exactly how many locations are active in Nis today.

Nikola Ilic, a student at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and the authorized representative of the Student List in Nis, explained why signing continues even though the candidacy is already secured.

The signatures needed for the list’s candidacy have already been collected, but signing will continue so that every citizen who wants to put their name behind the Student List can do so, Ilic said.

The Pantelej Assembly announced last night that signature certification in Pantelejska Street would continue until midnight, with verifiers secured for that location. Neither the City of Nis, the City Administration, nor Djordjevic had publicly responded to the students’ claims of refusal by the time this article was published.

Danas and Nova.rs reported today that signature collection in Nis was extended because of high turnout, with some citizens said to have waited as long as two hours for their turn to sign.

Transparency Serbia demands answers

Transparency Serbia today called on all municipal administrations, the Chamber of Public Notaries and individual notaries to publish without delay how they are handling such requests, citing suspicions that municipal administrations and notaries have not treated all political actors equally during signature collection. The organization also asked the Anti-Corruption Agency to determine, on its own initiative, whether campaign financing rules had been violated.

The organization’s statement cites Article 6 of the Law on Financing Political Activities, under which services that state bodies and local governments provide to political actors must be regulated by a separate act and published on their website, requests must be answered within two working days, and decisions published within one day.

All services provided to political actors, and the manner in which those services are provided, must be regulated by a separate act, Transparency Serbia said in its statement.

The organization says it reviewed the websites of several city and municipal administrations involved in certifying signatures and found no information on how the certification service is being provided during the pre-election period, or which actors have been granted or refused it. It adds that the most recent information on signature certification on the Chamber of Public Notaries’ website dates back to 2020.

Nis is not the first city to see disputes like this over certification in recent days. This outlet has previously reported on lines for signing in Leskovac and on a canceled verifier in Indjija. Whether municipal administrations and notaries will respond to Transparency Serbia’s call, and whether a similar pattern will repeat in another city before the campaign ends, remains an open question in the days ahead.