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Serbia to hold election rerun at 30 polling stations

December 20, 2023

Following massive protests over alleged fraud in Serbia's parliamentary and local elections, the country's electoral commission has decided to hold a partial rerun. But only a handful of polling stations are affected.

https://p.dw.com/p/4aPtE
Opposition supporters take to the streets protesting in Belgrade, Serbia
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Belgrade after the first official vote count to protest election irregularitiesImage: Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo/picture alliance

Serbia on Wednesday announced plans for a rerun of elections in 30 polling stations, state media reported. The announcement follows two days of protests. Thousands rallied outside Serbia's election commission after the weekend vote, which drew international condemnation for alleged fraud.

"The Serbian electoral commission decided that parliamentary elections in Serbia will be repeated at 30 polling stations and will be held on December 30," said a statement published by state-run broadcaster RTS.

The rerun will affect a tiny part of the Serbian electorate. According to the statement, 12,240 voters live in the places where the elections will be repeated. And the 30 polling stations represent only 0.38% of the more than 8,000 polling stations in the country.

However, the election commission does not have the authority and cannot respond to the opposition's request to repeat the elections in Belgrade, said the commission's president, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, according to RTS.

Ruling party claims victory

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic claims a sweeping victory for his party in parliamentary and local elections. His populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won about 46% of the vote in the parliamentary elections, while the leading opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) received 23.5%, according to official results.

The SNS also claimed victory in municipal elections in the capital, Belgrade, where the party faced its stiffest challenge from SPN. Opposition groups have questioned the validity of the contest, accusing the government of allowing unregistered voters from neighboring Bosnia to vote illegally in the capital.

Some 40,000 external voters were allegedly brought to Belgrade and other Serbian cities to vote for SNS using forged IDs. Most of them are said to have come in organized bus transports from Republika Srpska, a Serb-majority entity in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. The opposition filed a complaint and called for protests the day after the election.

Election observers in Serbia 'worried': DW's Alexandra von Nahmen

West denounces irregularities

A team of international observers, including representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), denounced a series of "irregularities," including "vote buying" and "ballot box stuffing."

Germany later called the reported allegations "unacceptable" for a country hoping to join the European Union.

"Serbia has voted, but the OSCE has reported abuse of public funds, intimidation of voters, and cases of vote buying," the German Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media platform X, referring to accusations by the OSCE. "That is unacceptable for a country with EU candidate status."

The United States also called for investigation. "Claims of irregularities reported both by OSCE and other election observation teams should be investigated, and violence directed at election authorities, journalists, accredited observers — of which we have seen reports — is unacceptable," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Meanwhile, the EU joined the chorus of criticism, saying Serbia's "electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform."

dh/msh (AFP, RTS)