Ballots for parliamentary and local elections in Belgrade, December 2023. Photo: EPA/MARKO DJOKOVIC.
Serbs voting abroad in upcoming elections will have to follow polling hours based on Central European Time under a new decision adopted in the early hours of Monday morning by the Republic Electoral Commission, RIK, which has set standardised voting hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The decision means that while some polling stations abroad will operate simultaneously with those in Serbia if they are in the same time zone, voters in some countries, including the United States, Australia and Indonesia, may have to cast ballots during local nighttime hours.
The proposal was passed by 20 RIK members in favour, while seven voted against. Several RIK members criticised the move, arguing it could make it harder for Serbian citizens abroad to exercise their right to vote. They also questioned why the Foreign Ministry, which initiated the proposal, had become involved in determining polling hours.
RIK member Ivan Sebek said such an arrangement had never been introduced since Serbia began organising voting abroad, and no previously reported problem justified it. “You are further restricting voters’ rights and effectively cutting the time available to exercise their right to vote in half,” Sebek said.
Other RIK members raised concerns about voters’ safety when voting at night. Vladimir Dragas called it “completely illegal” and warned it could anger some diaspora voters, forced to cast their ballots in the middle of the night.
The decision comes as the governing Serbian Progressive Party faces its strongest challenge since it came to power in 2012, from the recently-established opposition Student List, which grew out of the student-led protest movement. Some commentators have suggested there is strong support for the students’ cause among diaspora Serbians.
The change in voting times has worried some Serbian voters around the world.
Marija, who lives in China, speaking to BIRN on condition of anonymity, said the opening hours of the Serbian embassy on election day would be inconvenient, lasting from 2 p.m. until 3 a.m. Another issue is that, for the whole of China, only one polling station has been approved, in Beijing.
“Considering that China is a huge territory, the travelling distance we are talking about is huge … Don’t forget families who need to add two hours per flight, book accommodation, eat in Beijing, and come back home the same day. Also, local laws are very strict when it comes to people gathering, especially around the San Li Tun area [where most of the embassies are],” she explained.
Marija said diaspora voters had already faced various difficulties since the elections were announced.
“When we initially contacted the authorities about our request to vote abroad, we did not receive timely responses to our emails. In some cases, we had to wait a day or two for an answer. There were also significant delays concerning the documents we were supposed to receive from our local authorities in Serbia confirming we were eligible to vote outside the country, particularly here in China,” she said.
She said they had been expecting polling stations to be opened wherever at least 100 citizens had registered. However, only one polling station, in Beijing, was ultimately approved.
The same issue has emerged in Australia, where polling stations were approved only in Melbourne and Sydney, even though more than 100 Serbian voters have registered also in Perth and Brisbane.
Nemanja Djurovic told BIRN that voters from Brisbane have been directed to vote in Melbourne, even though Sydney is closer.
He added that the decision to open polling stations in only these two cities would result in many people not voting, as travel is a financial burden, and some citizens, like pregnant women, will not be able to take the flights that are necessary.
“The state is effectively slapping Serbian citizens living in Brisbane and Perth in the face. We are deeply disappointed and feel like second-class citizens because our rights are being openly ignored. The state is sending us a clear message that it does not want the diaspora to vote,” Nemanja said.
He added that the voting hours could significantly affect turnout in Australia, as polling there would take place from 5 p.m. on Sunday until 6 a.m. on Monday, when many people would already be preparing for work.
“Public transport stops running around midnight, while some bus services stop even earlier. This will significantly reduce turnout,” he predicted.
“The authorities want to prevent the first results coming from diaspora polling stations in the east from being negative for them,” he added.