There is no polling station on the entire west coast of the USA, and it is about 2.000 kilometers from Iceland to the nearest Serbian diplomatic mission in Oslo.
Professor Miodrag Jovanović estimated that part of the citizens of Serbia in diaspora could have serious difficulties for the voter to exercise his right in the upcoming elections extraordinary parliamentary elections, because the state has no obligation to open polling stations outside embassies and consulates.
There is great interest in voting in the diaspora, and according to the data of the member of the Republic Election Commission Sofija Mandić, about 75.000 applications for voting abroad have been registered so far. Since the application deadline ends on October 3rd at midnight, the number of applicants could increase further.
Jovanović told N1 that numerous citizens had approached the REC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on their own initiative with requests to open additional polling stations in accordance with the law. However, as he explained, the basic condition for opening a polling station is that at least 100 citizens register, but even meeting that condition does not oblige Serbian institutions to actually open it.
As an example of the difficulty that such a situation can represent for voters, he mentioned Iceland, where the nearest diplomatic representation of Serbia is in Oslo, about 2.000 kilometers away. According to him, for the citizens who want to vote, it represents a big trip and a potential cost of several thousand euros. He also pointed out that there is no polling station on the entire west coast of the United States of America, while RIK member Sofija Mandić mentioned Toulouse as an example, from where it is about 700 kilometers to Paris.
Jovanović estimated that to a certain extent it could happen that institutions do not open a polling station where they estimate that the turnout would not suit the current government. According to him, the state could cite costs as a possible explanation for such a decision, but he assessed that earlier it should have been thought about how to make it easier for citizens abroad to exercise their rights guaranteed by the constitution.
According to him, the fact that there were previously additional polling stations outside embassies and consulates in the Republic of Srpska raises the question of why such a practice could not be applied in other parts of the world.
The deadline for submitting applications for temporary polling stations expires on October 3rd at midnight. Due to the large number of interested citizens, Jovanović called on Serbian citizens in the diaspora to register to vote, although many have not yet received a response from the embassy or consulate.
He explained that the fact that citizens have not yet received an answer does not necessarily mean that their application has not been registered. He added that, due to the large number of requests, the diplomatic missions may not be able to process them by the deadline, but that the processing will continue after that.
Jovanović also stated that there is no obligation for embassies and consulates to respond to each individual application, which is why citizens are left to check whether they are on the voter list.
Speaking about the attitude of state institutions towards voters from the diaspora, Jovanović assessed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows a certain reserve towards them and that, according to his impression, it is not made easy enough for citizens to exercise their right to vote.
He reminded that citizens of Serbia living abroad are equal to citizens living in the country in terms of voting rights. He also warned that the possible intentional prevention of voting rights could have criminal legal consequences, given the existence of criminal acts related to the prevention of elections.
Jovanović therefore told citizens in the diaspora not to give up on registering and to check after the deadline if they are registered on the voter list.
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