RIK: Polling Station Deadline Expires Today

Serbia’s Republic Election Commission (RIK) has set September 19, today, as the deadline for determining polling stations across the country, under the timetable for the snap parliamentary election. The date has drawn little public attention so far, even though it comes from the same timetable that already fixed October 4 as the deadline for submitting electoral lists and October 9 as the deadline for closing the voters’ register.

RIK adopted the timetable after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed the decision calling the election for October 25 on September 9. Commenting on the timetable, RIK president Vladimir Dimitrijevic said the deadlines:

were set in line with the decision calling the election, the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, and the Law on the Unified Voters’ Register.

The September 17 session

The question of polling stations was also on the agenda at RIK’s 23rd session, held on September 17. The commission adopted an amendment to its decision approving polling stations with more than 2,500 or fewer than 100 voters. At the same session, RIK member Vladimir Dragas proposed removing one polling station in Zvezdara from the approved list, but the proposal failed to win the required majority.

That same day, RIK also formed standing local election commissions for five local government units in Kosovo and Metohija: Pristina, Gnjilane, Gora, Kosovska Mitrovica, and Pec, to carry out the upcoming election in that area.

What comes next

Under the timetable, the display of the voters’ register by local government unit began on September 10, and the register closes on October 9, after which citizens lose the right to request that their data be entered or changed. Voters who reside abroad can request that this fact be entered into the register no later than October 3.

A separate rule applies to voting outside Serbia. RIK sets polling stations abroad no later than 20 days before election day, meaning by October 5, and only in places where at least 100 voters have registered.

Applications to observe the work of election bodies are accepted until October 17 for domestic observers and until October 14 for international and foreign organizations. Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on October 25, while the campaign blackout begins at midnight on October 22.

The next deadline on the same timetable, October 4 for submitting electoral lists, is the next milestone in the run-up to the election.