CeSID about the elections

The Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) was established as the first non-governmental and non-profit organisation in 1997.

The Centre was primarily established with the goal to organise the impartial monitoring of elections in Serbia, including the monitoring of the media, the process of voting and the parallel vote tabulation.

The idea to establish the Centre originated from the need to approach the elections held in Serbia and Yugoslavia in an objective and impartial manner.

Not being burdened by any ideology, or any kind of subjective passion (except for the passion for democracy and the rule of law), once again we have mobilised, like in case of all elections held since 1997, all our potentials for the monitoring of the forthcoming presidential elections in Serbia.

The monitoring of the forthcoming elections will engage all nine CeSID Regional Offices, 20 Local Offices and 165 Municipal Co-ordinating CeSID Teams, a well as the network of 15,000 monitors-volunteers accredited with the Republican Electoral Commission (RIK).

CeSID also has the accredited monitors in of the Republican Electoral Commission (RIK).

For the forthcoming elections, CeSID obtained the approval of the Republican Electoral Commission for the Voting Boards to place posters, specially designed by CeSID, explaining the voting process.

The Republican Electoral Commission also granted the authorisation to CeSID representatives to monitor its work, printing of ballot papers, the voting process, the process of handling the complaints, the media behaviour and the manner of treatment of presidential candidates, as well as the process of education of citizens.

A preliminary report on media behaviour during the per-elections campaign will be presented in the Press Conference to be held on Wednesday, September 25, at the Media Centre in Belgrade.

During the pre-elections period, CeSID prepared and distributed posters and the video-clip explaining the voting process, and offered the representatives of political parties with special training, introducing them with the electoral process and enabling them to recognise possible abuses.

In the press conferences held during the pre-elections period, CeSID representatives announced that there haven’t been any significant complaints regarding to the pre-elections activities.

“These elections are closer to the fair and democratic elections than the previously held December elections. This is not a revolutionary progress, but this is the progress” said Marko Blagojevic, CeSID spokesman, in the press conference held on September 20. He also iterated that there would be minimum possibilities for manipulations in the forthcoming elections, like in other well-organised democratic countries. The presence of numerous monitors and representatives of political parties will be the best prevention of manipulations, Blagojevic said, emphasising the impression that “the authorities in Serbia are concerned about these elections being appreciated as satisfactory”.