Serbians Abroad Organize to Vote Amid Obstacles

A ballot box is seen in front of a local electorial commision during the second round of presidential elections in Belgrade, Serbia, 20 May 2012. EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC. With polling stations few and far between, Serbians abroad are joining solidarity networks to arrange rides and accommodation, while some face voting in the middle of the night. “Everything is done on a voluntary basis. People who have often never met before are now opening their homes to one another, picking people up at airports and helping them get to the polling station,” Duska Vujovic from Toronto told BIRN. Canada has only two polling stations, in Toronto and Ottawa, forcing some voters to travel thousands of kilometres. “Those travelling the furthest are coming from Vancouver and Victoria, covering approximately 4,000 kilometres each way. The journey also involves crossing several time zones,” Vujovic said. Despite Serbian diplomatic and consular missions in western Canada, no stations were opened in Vancouver or Calgary, although more than 800 people had registered in Vancouver. Toronto-based volunteers are providing accommodation and transport. In Italy and Spain, voters are using Facebook groups to organise shared journeys and accommodation. Many are also turning to VoteBnB, a platform whose creators reported 1,343 accommodation offers and 742 people offering rides. The creators told BIRN the idea emerged after Serbs abroad learned they could not vote locally. A prototype was online by 3am, and hundreds signed up within days. More than 30 cities now have local organisers coordinating transport and accommodation, they said, describing the initiative as part of efforts to reverse Serbia’s democratic backsliding under Aleksandar Vucic. Serbia’s authorities approved just 93 polling stations abroad, amid criticism that the network is inadequate for the number of registered voters. Sunday’s election pits Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party against opposition forces led by students, whose movement has become a major challenge to its long-standing dominance. In Australia, voters from Brisbane are preparing to travel about 900 kilometres to Sydney by minibus, car or plane after the Serbian Electoral Commission (RIK) declined to open stations in several cities. Nemanja Djurovic, a Serb living on the Gold Coast, said 130 people registered in Brisbane had contacted his group and expressed support for the student movement. “People are furious, and everyone who could possibly take a day off work decided they didn’t care how much the ticket would cost,” he told BIRN. “We specifically want to travel by bus to send a message. We can’t exactly cycle or walk like the students have been doing, but through this journey, we want to join their fight.” In France, voters from Toulouse, where 107 people registered but no station was opened, have arranged a minibus and shared cars to Paris. Another group from Montpellier has hired a minibus, while some travellers will collect students from Bordeaux en route. Milena Mihajlovic, a member of an informal citizens’ group in Toulouse, told BIRN that organisers in Paris had arranged free accommodation for those needing it. Although not everyone who registered can make the journey, she said, turnout was expected to be high. In California, US, where only one polling station was opened in Los Angeles, voters are also organising shared rides and accommodation. Milos Milenkovic, a Serbian citizen in San Francisco, told BIRN that organisers had recorded around 680 registrations across the state, while about 50 Los Angeles residents had offered their homes to travelling voters. Voting in Los Angeles is scheduled from 11pm on October 24 until noon the following day, local time.