Serbian List accuses CEC of "political manipulation"

2025-09-08 18:53:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Serbian List, the largest Serb party in Kosovo that has the support of Belgrade, has accused the Kosovo Central Election Commission of "political manipulation" due to the "unequal" composition of polling station councils for counting votes for the October 12 local elections.

During a press conference on September 8, this party also faced criticism for its electoral lists in Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.

Therefore, the Serb List said that they have filed a complaint with the Electoral Panel for Complaints and Appeals.

Serbian List official Igor Simic said at a press conference that, compared to the parliamentary elections held in February this year, a lower number of voters was observed in some municipalities, especially in Leposavic and North Mitrovica.

According to Simic's claims, in Leposaviq there are about 1,500 fewer voters on the voter list, while in North Mitrovica there are about 1,200.

"We were able to ascertain that voters in North Mitrovica have been deleted from the polling station at the 'Sveti Sava' primary school, where Serb citizens vote. This is a large number of voters that could drastically affect the election results for both assembly members and mayors," Simi? declared.

He added that in the municipality of Gracanica, near Pristina, the number of voters has "increased drastically", namely that there are over 2,000 more voters compared to the February parliamentary elections.

Simi? said that the Serbian List has not managed to receive an explanation from the CEC regarding these issues and called on the ECAP, as well as the international community, to react.

Radio Free Europe has contacted the CEC regarding the accusations of the Serbian List, but this institution has not yet responded.

The Serbian List claimed that the CEC has caused harm to this party also regarding the composition of polling station councils.

"There are 23 polling stations in the municipality of Novo Brdo. The Serbian List won 60 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections, but we do not have any polling station leaders [in this municipality]. And not only that, we are missing nine members of the polling station councils, which means that in nine classes the Serbian List will not be able to control this electoral process," said Simi?.

As an example of "violation of the law" and so-called "political manipulation", the Serbian List also mentioned the municipality of Partesh, where this party said that it only has one leader in one of the seven polling stations, even though, as Simi? said, it had won approximately 90 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections.

Regarding the composition of the polling station councils, the Serbian List had been dissatisfied even before the February elections, accusing the CEC of causing them harm, as in many municipalities there were no members "to control the legality, legitimacy and democratic character of the elections."

The Central Election Commission of Kosovo on September 6 confirmed the voter list for the local elections on October 12, according to which 2,069,098 people will have the right to vote.

"According to data from the voter list, the number of citizens with the right to vote at polling stations in the Republic of Kosovo is 2,025,105 voters, while the number of citizens who have registered to vote by mail outside Kosovo is 43,993 voters," the announcement said.

The CEC also announced that 938 voting centers with a total of 2,625 polling stations will be opened for the local elections.

93 entities have been certified for these elections - 32 political parties, 32 civic initiatives, two coalitions and 27 independent candidates.

Kosovo held its last local elections in October 2021./ Rel