Serbia Diaspora Voting Deadline: RIK Missing Embassy Data

The deadline to register to vote from abroad in the early parliamentary election on October 25 runs out at midnight on October 3, Belgrade time, and the Republic Election Commission still has no returning data from diplomatic and consular missions on how many voters have successfully registered. Jelena Vranjes, a member of the commission’s expanded composition, confirmed this to N1.

“The problem arose because we have no feedback from our diplomatic and consular missions,” Vranjes said, adding that the commission has no coordination with the Foreign Ministry either on the number of applications that have been coming in since September 10.

Srpske Novine previously reported on the deadline for forming a new polling station in the diaspora. Now a wider and stricter deadline is in play, the one for each individual voter to register, and it runs out on October 3.

Who can vote and how to register

Every Serbian citizen who will be abroad on election day has the right to vote at a diplomatic or consular mission, regardless of the reason for their stay abroad or how long they have been there. The request is submitted through the embassy or consulate responsible for their place of residence, and whether the paperwork is submitted in person, by mail or electronically depends on the specific mission.

A voter already entered in the Unified Voter Register only needs to submit a request to vote abroad. Anyone not yet on the register has to submit a registration request at the same time, and both go through the diplomatic or consular mission, which forwards them to the relevant municipal or city administration in Serbia. A request to be added to the register can also be filed directly through the eUprava portal.

According to the Republic Election Commission, a polling station abroad is generally opened once at least 100 voters have registered for it, and the commission itself approves exceptions to that number. Polling stations, both in Serbia and abroad, are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Why voters aren’t getting confirmation

Some citizens who have already registered to vote from abroad have gone weeks without confirmation that their application was received. Cited examples include the Frankfurt uz studente group and the Serbian embassy in Berlin, where complaints have gone unanswered.

“We reached out to every relevant institution with the need and the appeal that we be given equal access to exercise our right, just like citizens in Serbia,” Olivera Stosic Rakic of the Frankfurt uz studente group told N1.

Stosic Rakic said the Republic Election Commission, the Foreign Ministry, the embassy in Berlin and every consular mission have all been informed of the problem, but that no response has arrived to date.

Vranjes said diplomatic and consular missions cite being overwhelmed as the reason for the delays.

“They claim their capacities are limited, that our consular missions can’t keep up with that volume of emails,” the commission member said, adding that she considers the explanation insufficient.

“We have to protect every person who has the right to vote, every vote has to be protected,” Vranjes said. According to her, the Republic Election Commission has therefore formed a joint working group with the Foreign Ministry that will urgently seek answers and a solution.

The Kreni-promeni movement, for its part, claims that Foreign Ministry Secretary General Dusan Kozarev verbally ordered that the opening of polling stations abroad be made more difficult, particularly in Germany and the United States, where the movement says a large number of emigrants live who traditionally do not vote for the current government. The Foreign Ministry declined to comment on these claims to N1, and Foreign Minister Marko Djuric denied the accusations without going into detail.

Around 40,000 people registered to vote from abroad in the previous parliamentary election. According to a five-year-old figure, roughly 1.7 million emigrants hold a Serbian passport.

How to check if you’re on the voter register

Registration on the Unified Voter Register can be checked electronically by entering a national ID number and ID card registration number, either through the official website of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government or through the eUprava portal. Anyone who finds they are not registered after this check should submit a registration request together with the request to vote abroad, no later than midnight on October 3.