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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Two-month deadline for concluding voters' registers abroad

Belgrade, 14 November 2006

Spokesman of the Serbian Electoral Commission (RIK) Miodrag Petrovic stated today that Serbian citizens wishing to vote from abroad on January 21 will have two months to apply for voting and get registered in special sections of the voters' register.

In a statement to the Tanjug news agency, Petrovic stressed that the deadline for concluding the register of voters for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for January 21 is January 6, 2007. This means that Serbian citizens living abroad, as well as all those who happen to be outside Serbia at that point, will have enough time to inform competent organs of their wish to vote, explained Petrovic.

He announced that RIK will brief the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the matter so they can update voters' registers in Serbia and abroad on time and enable over 20,000 Serbian citizens living in Montenegro to vote.

According to Petrovic, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government is to make a special record of Serbian voters in Montenegro and update all voters' registers in the diaspora, whereas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should start verifying the data as soon as possible and inform the diaspora on voting rules and the right to vote.

Petrovic explained that in countries in which Serbia has no diplomatic and consular representatives, it will be possible to ask for the state's consent to enable the voting to take place in that country.

He also said that RIK wants to warn state organs this way, as well as stimulate them, to begin preparations for concluding voters' registers on time and to remove all technical issues that have occurred during previous voting abroad.

By advertising in the foreign media, state organs will be able to inform citizens of their rights and the opportunity to participate in elections, said Petrovic. He added that other forms of voting from abroad are also being discussed.

Serbian citizens abroad can be registered in only one voters' register – either the one in the diaspora, or in Serbia, and they can vote only at one of these two places.