After the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) failed to rule on complaints within the legally prescribed 72-hour deadline and then unlawfully rejected the submitted complaints, we have officially filed appeals with the Administrative Court in Belgrade.

Our legal team challenges RIK’s decisions on two key grounds.

Challenging RIK’s attempt to evade responsibility for polling stations

RIK baselessly claims that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is solely responsible for determining the list of polling stations. However, under Serbia’s Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, RIK has exclusive authority to determine polling station locations.

RIK was required to request precise data from the MFA on the number of registered voters in each city and ensure that polling stations were opened wherever the legal requirements were met. Instead, it accepted the MFA’s proposal without verifying the actual number of registrations.

Challenging unlawful overnight voting hours

RIK has misapplied the legal provisions on time zones, deciding that voting in Chicago, New York, Australia and New Zealand would take place during the night or early morning, beginning at 1 or 2 a.m. or ending as late as 6 a.m.

The law requires voters to have access to 13 consecutive hours of voting under normal, humane conditions.

We are asking the Administrative Court to annul these unlawful decisions and restore standard voting hours from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., local time in each host country.

Three key questions for RIK, the MFA and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government (MDULS)

Why is the MDULS blocking the processing of voter registrations submitted by the legal deadline?

The MDULS is deliberately obstructing the work of diplomatic and consular missions by preventing them from entering and processing all voter registrations duly submitted by citizens before the legal deadline of 11:59 p.m. on 3 October.

This is a direct obstruction of the electoral process that risks depriving thousands of citizens of their right to vote.

Why are you deliberately creating chaos at polling stations with more than 2,500 registered voters?

At as many as seven polling stations abroad, an excessive number of voters is being assigned beyond the legal limit, instead of opening additional polling stations where required by law.

This risks creating queues stretching for kilometres and preventing citizens from casting their ballots within the designated voting hours.

Why are you ignoring the legal requirement to open additional polling stations when the number of registered voters exceeds the prescribed limit?

Why are you deliberately understating voter registration numbers and discriminating against voters based on their country of residence?

By reporting artificially low registration figures, the authorities are effectively depriving hundreds of citizens of their right to vote.

For the first time in history, more voters have registered in Germany than in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yet only eight polling stations have been designated for Germany, compared with 28 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where polling stations are being opened even in places with as few as 117 voters, such as Branjevo.

We demand full transparency regarding the actual registration figures and the criteria used to determine polling station locations across different countries.

Taking action to expose the obstruction

To establish the full extent of the obstruction, we have taken further legal and institutional steps.

Freedom of information requests submitted to the MFA and the MDULS

We are requesting access to all relevant documentation, correspondence and written evidence concerning the organisation of voting abroad.

We demand a clear, written answer to a crucial question: Has Serbia submitted official requests to foreign countries for permission to open additional polling stations outside diplomatic and consular missions? If so, when, and to which countries?

The public has a right to know whether all necessary steps were taken and what evidence supports the claim that additional polling stations could not be opened.

Contacting the foreign ministries of host countries

We have officially contacted the relevant foreign ministries in the countries where Serbian citizens are due to vote. Our aim is to verify directly whether the authorities in Belgrade requested permission to open additional polling stations, and what responses they received.

We will not accept bureaucratic excuses without access to the documentation needed to substantiate them.

You will not silence the diaspora!

This is a deliberate, state-orchestrated effort that raises serious concerns about the legality of the electoral process and the exclusion of the Serbian diaspora from voting.

We will continue to pursue every available legal avenue, demand the disclosure of relevant documents, and bring these concerns before domestic and international institutions.

Every document that the authorities attempt to conceal must be brought into the public domain. Every individual involved in the decision-making process, from the MDULS and the MFA to RIK, must be held accountable in accordance with the law.

We will continue our struggle on every front. You will not silence the people or the diaspora!

Student List – Students Win

Translated by A3S