Simic: Serb List has 25 fewer seats in polling station committees than in the previous elections; We have filed an appeal with the ECAP

Serb List has submitted an appeal to the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) against the decision of the Central Election Commission regarding the number of members in polling station committees, under which, compared to the elections held in December, the party received 25 fewer seats in polling station committees, stated Igor Simic, candidate for MP and member of the presidency of the Serb List.

“We would like to inform you that we have just submitted an appeal to the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel against the decision of the Central Election Commission concerning the composition of polling station committees at polling stations for these extraordinary parliamentary elections, which will be held on June 7 in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. The practice from previous years is being repeated, but compared to the previous three election cycles in 2025, the situation is now even worse,” said Serb List presidency member Igor Simic.

As Simic stated, compared to the elections held in December last year, the Serb List now has 25 fewer members in polling station committees, which, he added, supports the fact that the results achieved in the previous elections — where the Serb List secured a convincing victory — are not being recognized, while seats in polling station committees are being allocated to Albanian political parties that received incomparably fewer votes or, as he said, to “favorites of the regime in Pristina,” who also received dozens of times fewer votes than the Serb List in Serb-majority municipalities, as well as in other municipalities.

As one example, Simic cited the municipality of Leposavic, where in the parliamentary elections held in December last year the Serb List received 5,961 votes.

“The Albanian parties received the following: Self-Determination 127, PDK 29, LDK 14, and Kurti’s favorites 490. When you compare that with the number of chairpersons this time, despite having nearly 6,000 votes, we have four chairpersons. Self-Determination, PDK, and LDK, with a combined total of 160 votes, have a total of 16 chairpersons. Not to mention the members of polling station committees, where the ratio is even worse,” Simic said.

He added that in the municipality of Zubin Potok, the Serb List has three chairpersons, the same as Self-Determination and PDK, although those parties received 276 and 143 votes respectively.

In the municipality of Zvecan, the situation is even worse, Simic stressed, pointing out that the Serb List has one chairperson and eight members of polling station committees with 3,298 votes, while Self-Determination, with 173 votes, has three times more chairpersons, namely three.

“PDK has 68 votes, nearly 50 times fewer than the Serb List, yet they have three times more chairpersons, specifically three. Therefore, the practice from the previous elections continues. This time, North Kosovska Mitrovica is particularly targeted, where the Serb List, with 5,356 votes won, has three chairpersons, three members, and two reserve members, which amounts to a total of 18 members, while 24 seats are envisaged. This means that at six polling stations where nearly 6,000 voters cast ballots in that municipality alone, we will not have control over the electoral process, which means that electoral engineering is once again being prepared,” Simic emphasized.

Regarding the municipality of Gracanica, Simic added that with 6,660 votes won, the Serb List has five chairpersons, while Self-Determination, PDK, and LDK, with a combined total of 2,300 votes, have 20 chairpersons, or four times more.

The most drastic example among the municipalities in the Kosovo Pomoravlje region is Partes, Simic stated, adding that in that municipality the Serb List, with 1,714 votes, has two chairpersons, while PDK, with one vote won, has one chairperson, Self-Determination with 11 votes has one chairperson, and LDK with five votes also has one.

“We will do everything to prevent this, and the fact that we submitted this appeal today speaks in favor of that. We expect the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel to annul this unlawful decision and ensure that the composition of polling station committees reflects both the ethnic composition of the municipalities and the results from the previous elections. I will add just one more piece of information: out of 28 municipalities with an Albanian majority in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, the Serb List does not have a single chairperson,” Simic emphasized.