Serbia Ballot: Vucic Listed First Among 18 Slates
The Republic Electoral Commission set the ballot order on the evening of October 8, and some of its members voiced doubts that part of the field is fictitious.
On the ballot for the snap parliamentary elections on October 25, first place went to the list Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia. The order was set by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) in its decision on the consolidated electoral list, adopted at the 50th session on the evening of October 8. The session was chaired by commission president Vladimir Dimitrijevic.
We reported earlier that 18 lists had been declared. What is new is the order on the ballot, the first consolidated data on candidates, and objections from some commission members about the race itself. The order follows the sequence in which the lists were declared.
In what order do the lists appear on the ballot?
According to the RIK decision, the order is as follows:
- Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia
- Ivica Dacic - Stability Factor!
- Student List - Students Win
- Rasim Ljajic - Human (SDP - CDP)
- Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians - Dr Balint Pastor
- Usame Zukorlic (SPP) - Movement for Unification
- Russian Party - Serbia in BRICS - Slobodan Nikolic
- Authentic Right - Dr Milos Jovanovic
- European Serbia - Marinika Tepic - Zdravko Ponos
- SDA of Sandzak - Guardians of Sandzak
- Bogoljub Karic - Strength of Serbia Movement - BK
- Liberal Green Party - For a Free and Cleaner Serbia
- I Choose JUSTICE - I Choose the FUTURE
- Party of Russian-Serbian Unity - Russians and Serbs Brothers Forever
- Cale, This Is for You - Petar Djuric - Prime Minister of Serbia
- Vladimir Gajic - Alternative for Serbia
- Albanian Coalition
- Mother Serbia - Gruda
How many candidates do the lists have, and who are they?
Dimitrijevic said seven of the 18 lists have 250 candidates for deputies each, the maximum allowed. The European Serbia list has 248, and the fewest candidates, nine, are on the Cale, This Is for You list. NS Reporter, which relayed data from the session, puts the total number of candidates at 2,418 and says the Usame Zukorlic list has 181 candidates. The RIK press release and N1’s report give only the number of lists, without a total.
The average age of candidates is 46.3 years, the youngest is 18 and the oldest 85. The youngest average age belongs to the SDA of Sandzak - Guardians of Sandzak list: about 36 years according to figures carried by N1, or 36.9 according to NS Reporter. Next come the Cale, This Is for You list at 38.7 and the Rasim Ljajic list at 39.6 years. The oldest is the Mother Serbia - Gruda list, with an average of 57.2 years.
According to NS Reporter, the largest group is aged 40 to 49, with 677 candidates, followed by those aged 50 to 59, numbering 534. There are 262 candidates under 30, most of them on the Usame Zukorlic list (48), then on the Rasim Ljajic list (35) and on the Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia list (32).
The lists include 1,134 women and 1,284 men, which is slightly under 47 percent women. According to RIK data relayed by the same outlet, all lists meet the legal minimum of 40 percent for the less represented sex. The Bogoljub Karic list has the most women, 150 of 250 candidates, while on the Ivica Dacic - Stability Factor list the share is exactly 40 percent.
What did commission members say at the session?
RIK members Milan Vasiljevic and Tanasije Marinkovic pointed to a possible problem with renumbering if a list is withdrawn before the consolidated list is closed. Both also voiced doubts that all declared lists had legitimate support. Vasiljevic said at least five lists on the consolidated list are fictitious and that a list with nine candidates has more than 10,000 signatures.
Vasiljevic, Marko Danilovic and Ivan Sebek warned that a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on voting abroad, announced for October 8, did not take place. Dimitrijevic replied that he would try once more to contact the ministry.
At the earlier, 49th session the same day, chaired by RIK deputy president Marko Jankovic, the commission also declared two lists for the national minority council elections scheduled for November 8: the Rusyn list Sincerely for Rusyn Women and Men - Prof. Dr. Mihajlo Fejsa, and the German Joint List of Danube Germans.
