ProGlas urges diaspora to vote in Serbia on October 25
The initiative claims state decisions have systematically made voting abroad harder and calls on voters to cast their ballots in Serbia instead.
The ProGlas initiative on Saturday, October 17, called on Serbian citizens living abroad who have been prevented from voting there to come to the country and vote in the elections on October 25. The statement was reported by Beta, 021 and NSPM.
The call covers two groups of voters. The first are those who, according to the statement, were blocked by state decisions from voting abroad. The second are those who did not register to vote abroad but are able to travel to Serbia. ProGlas said in its statement:
Come to Serbia to vote if your right to vote has been denied abroad, and be participants and witnesses of great change in Serbia
The initiative also thanked all Serbian citizens in the diaspora who will take part in the elections.
What does ProGlas say about registrations to vote abroad?
According to figures cited by the initiative, three times as many citizens registered to vote abroad as voted there in the previous elections. In ProGlas’s assessment, this “shows the fundamental interest of our diaspora in change in Serbia,” and it describes these elections as a period of great enthusiasm among the Serbian diaspora.
What came before the call?
In recent days, criticism has focused on the decision of the Republic Election Commission (RIK) on polling stations abroad, adopted on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Polling stations will not be opened in several countries even though enough Serbian citizens registered. In some countries, including Australia and Canada, a large number of voters will have to travel thousands of kilometers to reach a polling station.
The decision that all polling stations abroad will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central European Time has also drawn criticism. Because of time zone differences, that means voting will take place overnight in some countries.
We have written before about disputes over voting in the diaspora, when the Student List lost both of its cases on the issue.
How does ProGlas assess the decisions of state bodies?
In its statement, the initiative described the decisions that followed as an attempt to stop citizens in the diaspora from taking part in the elections:
The decisions of state bodies that followed amount to a systematic effort to prevent citizens in the diaspora from taking part in the elections. We are convinced that the regime’s panic will provoke the defiance of our diaspora
This is the initiative’s own assessment, not an established fact. In the sources available to us, there is no response from the RIK or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the statement.
The elections are held on October 25, so voters who want to act on the call have less than a week to plan their trip to a polling station in Serbia.
