Radakovic: Albanians who do not speak Serbian on polling boards in the north, voting made difficult

Dusan Radakovic from the NGO “Democracy in Action” warned that in some Serb-majority areas the members of polling boards are mostly Albanians who do not speak Serbian, which makes voting more difficult for voters who do not know the Albanian language.

Radakovic said that this morning’s election process in northern Kosovo began without major irregularities, with minor technical problems and communication challenges with polling boards in Serb communities.

“The only recorded brief waiting was at the Primary School in Leposavic, due to the arrival of polling board members from Pristina. The website for constitutional voting became operational on time, and there were no technical problems,” Radakovic said.

He emphasized that the only more serious irregularity is present in polling boards in exclusively Serb communities, where in classrooms with more than 90 percent Serb voters the boards often include members who do not speak Serbian.

“What I can single out as an irregularity, both for me personally and for citizens in the north, is the composition of polling boards in areas with a majority Serb population. In exclusively Serb areas, where more than 90 percent of citizens vote, such as the Technical School, classrooms 3 and 4, where more than 95 percent of voters are of Serb nationality, the polling board of five members includes four Albanians who do not speak Serbian,” Radakovic said.

He added that, although he speaks Albanian, he had difficulties while voting at his polling station.

“I can only imagine how it is for those who do not know a single word of Albanian. I believe this is one of the more serious irregularities that I can point out,” he said.

He also noted that occasional power outages in Leposavic and some villages are for now the only technical problem, but that the election process is proceeding in an orderly manner.