The spokesman of the Central Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC) Valmir Elezi announced that as of 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Bulgarian time) over 200 people voted in the referendum in Northern Kosovo, reported the newspaper “Koha ditore“, quoted by BTA.
As of this hour, not a single person has voted in Zvechan municipality, and voter turnout in general is defined as very low.
According to data from the Central Election Commission, the total number of voters in the four northern Kosovo municipalities in which there is a referendum today is 46,556.
In the four municipalities of Zvečan, Zubin Potok, Leposavich and Severna Mitrovica in Northern Kosovo, mostly inhabited by Serbs, today the citizens vote “for“ or “against“ the removal of ethnic Albanian municipal mayors. These are the mayors of Zvechan Ilir Peci, Zubin Potok Izmir Zechiri, Leposavich Lulzim Hetemi and North Mitrovica Erden Atich.
The referendum in Northern Kosovo is being held against the background of calls by the main party of the Kosovo Serbs “Serbska lista“ for a boycott of voting in these municipalities, notes the newspaper “Koha ditore“.
Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs do not recognize the independence of Kosovo declared in 2008. The two countries are conducting a dialogue to normalize their relations under the auspices of the EU.
The Central Electoral Commission of Kosovo called on the citizens of the four northern municipalities to use their right to vote in the referendum.
The referendum was reached after in the local elections in Kosovo on April 23 last year, the Kosovo Serbs in the four municipalities in which they are the majority boycotted the vote and the voter turnout was 3.5 percent. As a result, Kosovo Albanians were elected mayors of these municipalities, which caused tension both locally and between Belgrade and Pristina.
After rising tensions in northern Kosovo with the inauguration of new mayors and constant demands by the international factor to hold new elections there, the government of Kosovo presented in September last year an administrative instruction that allows the citizens of Kosovo to request the removal of municipal mayors from office through a petition, Radio Free Europe recalls.
If the release of the municipal mayors is voted today, for which 50 percent plus one votes of those entitled to vote are required, new local elections will be organized.
According to Ismet Kruesiu from the non-governmental organization “Democracy in action“ the referendum in Northern Kosovo failed due to low voter turnout.
„Democracy in action“ is a network of non-governmental organizations in Kosovo that promotes free and fair elections by monitoring the electoral process, informing voters and advocating for electoral reform, the organization says on its official Facebook page.
Cruesiu pointed out a number of technical and organizational problems surrounding the election process, such as the announcement of the polling stations by the CEC only yesterday, the lack of signs indicating where the stations are, as well as the placing of the ballot boxes in places right in front of the surveillance cameras, which does not guarantee secrecy vot.
The Central Election Commission rejected the latest accusation, saying that the installation of cameras in polling stations, a first in Kosovo, in no way violated the confidentiality of the vote.
Cruesiu added that the election process was peaceful, but there was no interest on the part of citizens to participate in it, which, according to him, was influenced by the position of “Serbska Lista”.
Representatives of the local prosecutor's office in the four municipalities in Northern Kosovo and the Kosovo Police are responsible for security during the referendum, reported “Koha ditore”, referring to the national coordinator for the elections from the State Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo Lyaura Pulja.
The general security situation in Northern Kosovo around the referendum is also monitored by the EU mission for the rule of law in Kosovo (EULEX), wrote in “X“ its leader Giovanni Pietro Barbano. According to Barbano, EULEX's monitoring is carried out in coordination with the Kosovo police and the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR).
The polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. Bulgarian time) and will close at 7:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. Bulgarian time).