CeSID Report on Local Elections in Serbia September – October 2004

With support of the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) CeSID monitored the work of city and municipal electoral commissions in Serbia. With support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, CeSID’s mobile teams monitored on September 29th the voting process at polling stations in Vojvodina and Sandzak, as well as voting and vote count at the selected polling stations comprising the representative sample in Belgrade.

Furthermore, also with support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro and in co-operation with its partners “Strategic Marketing”, Media Centre and “Sw4I”, on October 3rd CeSID monitored the voting and determination of elections results at the selected polling stations in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar.

With support of the Westminster Foundation and the Democracy Commission of the American Embassy in Belgrade, prior to both first and second electoral round, CeSID collected information on all electoral lists and candidates which participated in these local elections in Serbia. CeSID’s campaign designed to encourage the voters to turn out in these elections was supported by the British Embassy in Belgrade.

Following the completion of these elections and pronouncement of final elections results, CeSID will for the first time in our country, for a database comprising information on all elected Councillors, Mayors and Presidents of Municipalities. This database will be available at CeSID Web Site: www.cesid.org.

Introduction and General Assessment

Recently held elections were the first general local elections held in Serbia according to the new Law of Local Elections. Moreover, following the completion of these elections, application of the new Law on Local Self-Government has commenced in the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Following the completion of the second round of Local Elections, in which citizens of Serbia elected the Mayors and Presidents of Municipalities, we may assert that these elections were organised and conducted generally in accordance with the rules and democratic standards and principles.

Law on Local Elections

Electoral System

The new Law on Local Elections, adopted in 2002, for the first time introduced into local elections the proportional electoral system, as well as direct election of Mayors and Presidents of Municipalities.

According to the provisions of this Law, each municipality represents one entire electoral unit, a 3 percent census is stipulated as requirement for winning of mandate, and distribution of councillors’ mandates is made according to the Hare-Nimeyer System.

This system has contributed to greater degree of proportionality of elections results. From these elections on, the elected bodies will to a much grater extent represent the will of voters.

Nomination of candidates

The Law stipulates that nominations of candidates for Mayors and Presidents of Municipalities have to be supported by signatures of the number of voters not lesser than 3 percent of the total number of voters registered in the city or municipality in which the nomination is being made. Consequently, in the City of Belgrade, nomination of a candidate for the Mayor had to be supported by signatures approximately 43,000 registered voters.

With all due respect for the legislator’s intentions to reduce the number of participants in the elections to a reasonable scope, it is impossible not to notice that the number of signatures by which the citizens of Belgrade supported nominations of 9 candidates is almost equivalent to the number of voters who exercised their voting right in the first electoral round.

Moreover, the City Electoral Commission in Belgrade had determined numerous irregularities during the process of verification of signatures submitted in support of nominated candidates. In case of some candidates, those irregularities were registered in thousands.

For those reasons, it is necessary to reconsider once again justification of this requirement, particularly bearing in mind the experience from the past elections, as well as all advantages and deficiencies of such solution.

Media

The media are an integral part of the elections, whereas a fair media behaviour is and inseparable component of the fair elections. However, provisions of the Law on Local Elections do not stipulate which body should be responsible for the media reporting during the elections campaign, as well as the media behaviour during the pre-elections silence. Consequently, it is not possible to determine whether or not and to what extent, the media, and above all local media, observed requirement of equal treatment of all participants in the elections.

Financing of political parties' campaigns

The Law on Financing of Political Parties, adopted in 2003, provides a series of regulations aimed to ensure transparency of financing of campaigns of both political parties and candidates.

However, even though there is a stipulated obligation of participants in local elections to submit reports on expenses incurred within their campaigns, the Law on Financing of Political Parties as well as the Law on Local Elections do not clearly stipulate whom should the parties submit reports to, since the only specified body is the Republican Electoral Commission, which has no jurisdiction whatsoever over the elections for local bodies of authorities.

Pre-elections silence

Inconsistency of provisions regulating behaviour and activities of participants in the elections and the media during the 48-hour period prior to the beginning of voting, as well as behaviour during the course of voting, may cause different interpretations. The interpretations, often erroneous and sometimes even marked by personal perception of certain behaviour, on several occasions during thee elections, animated both the public and the media, particularly in terms of appealing upon the voters to turn out and vote.

Duration of the period of pre-elections silence should also be reconsidered. In countries of the region, as well as in countries of developed and traditional democracies, the period of pre-elections silence last no longer than 24 hours before the beginning of voting.

Electoral administration

The elections held in Serbia were organised and conducted by local, city and municipal electoral commissions, and voting boards appointed by these commissions. The Law on Local Elections does neither provide jurisdiction of the Republican Electoral Commission over local elections, nor does it provide existence of any other body on the Republican level, which would provide technical and/or expert support to lower level instances within the electoral administration by direct engagement in organisation and conducting of the elections.

Voters registers

Even though the updates of voters registers in municipalities in Serbia have significantly improved, particularly since 2001 when CeSID conducted the research of manners of maintenance of information about voters, some deficiencies still remain. These deficiencies, however, could be overcome by unification of all data on voters and centralisation of the voters register.

Moreover, the June 200 presidential elections have open up a serious issue of evidence of voters in diaspora.

Elections day

CeSID's activities

On September 19th, the first round elections day, CeSID’s mobile teams visited 517 polling stations in Vojvodina and Sandzak and registered voting related facts, while CeSID’s monitors assigned to polling stations in Belgrade monitored voting and determination of elections results at a total of 165 polling stations comprising the representative sample.

On October 3rd, the second round elections day, CeSID’s accredited monitors monitored voting and determination of elections results at a total of 314 polling stations in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar.

Before the first round of local elections, but unfortunately not also before the second round, CeSID sent direct mail to addresses of 500,000 families, appealing upon the voters throughout Serbia to exercise their voting right on September 19th.

Irregularities

On the first round elections day, CeSID’s monitors did not observe at the monitored polling stations any serious irregularities, i.e. irregularities that might seriously affect regularity of the entire electoral process in municipalities.

However, following the completion of this electoral round, CeSID received information on allegedly numerous irregularities, both from the citizens and participants in the elections, from a series of municipalities and cities. Moreover, the media reports were full of information on alleged violations of electoral procedure. Quite obviously, CeSID has only indirectly learnt about such violations. Specified irregularities were mostly of procedural character and the elections results were only indirectly challenged.

Bearing in mind the fact that these have been the first more seriously challenged elections since the year 2000, and since numerous reports on alleged irregularities cast a shadow upon success and regularity of the entire electoral process, the Republican Electoral Commission should consider those issues and determine the facts, causes and directions for further actions.

Taking into consideration nature of the reported omissions, the Republican Electoral Commission should determine if it is necessary to refresh the knowledge on electoral rules of the members of permanent constituencies of voting boards.

On the second round elections day, CeSID’s monitors registered at the monitored polling stations only one serious violation of electoral regulations (Polling Station 16, village Jovanovac, Municipality of Merosina) and one serious incident (Polling Station 37 in Novi Pazar).

CeSID’s monitors did not have any serious complaints regarding the work of the monitored city and municipal electoral commissions.

Monitors

The Local Elections held in Serbia on September 19th and October 3rd were not monitored by the OSCE monitors, whereas domestic CeSID’s monitors were monitoring them to a limited extent.

Reports of CeSID’s monitors from all polling stations in Serbia and all elections held between December 2000 and December 2003, indicated that electoral irregularities had been registered at less than one percent of the polling stations. Similar indicators had also been registered by the OSCE Monitoring Missions.

However, the practise experienced in these elections has again brought up the issue of a need for full elections monitoring, as well as of return of the OSCE Monitoring Missions in Serbia.

Voters turnout

The experience gained in recently completed elections, as well as in the June 2004 presidential elections, repeatedly imposes the problem of low turnout, i.e. low motivation of voters. This issue is even more significant, particularly for the fact that Serbia is on the way to adopt new Constitution, which is the process requiring participation of minimum 50 percent of the total number of registered voters.

Therefore, in the forthcoming period, the problem of voters' apathy and abstinence should also be the subject of appropriate consideration of the bodies of authorities in the Republic of Serbia.

Centre for Free Elections and Democracy - CeSID
Belgrade, October 5th, 2004