Member of Kosovo Central Election Commission Nenad Rikalo on problems with the voter lists: Serbian unregistered voters cannot enrol in a list without Kosovo documents.
When voting in local elections last November, it was evident that several generations of Serbs in northern Kosovo had no right to vote. Mostly those who have reached 18 years and have gained the right to vote after 1999, and there are between two and three thousand of them. They were returned from the polls because they were not on the list – told Vecernje Novosti Nenad Rikalo, Serbian member of the Kosovo Central Election Commission.
Rikalo points this example as only one of the irregularities that accompanies Kosovo’s voters’ list, which has not been updated for years. That’s why you have the paradoxical situation, that there are more voters than inhabitants. And we have the central elections approaching…
– A serious data verification started and it may be that from the list will be deleted 30 000 deceased. With 55,000 already deleted in November last year, there is about 90,000 less.
How Serbian unregistered voters could register as voters if they would like to vote in the upcoming elections for the Assembly?
– Regulations are such that without Kosovo documents they cannot. A new agreement in Brussels is needed in order to harmonize the list of Kosovo and the one that Serbia has. This is the only way out of this situation.
Is it realistic for central election to be before the summer?
– There are serious indications that it will be in late May or early June. That is one of the options.
Is there enough time until then to resolve the problem with the voter list?
– In this case, the working group dealing with this issue in Brussels must urgently meet.
Pressure to change the law
Do you have any information whether the draft law on general elections will be amended so that IDPs have the right to vote and will minorities keep reserved seats?
– Serbian MPs have made amendments to the text of the law, and in parallel the diplomatic communication is taking place in order to put pressure that the controversial parts of the draft are amended. There is still room for discussion until the second reading and adoption of the law in Parliament.
