Page 144 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

126 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS DURING COVID-19

Serbia

Elections in Serbia

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many national governments across the world to either alter,
postpone or cancel elections in the year 2020. On March 15, 2020, the Serbian President declared
a state of emergency in order to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. Under the state of
emergency, the very next day, all campaign activities were paused and the parliamentary, provincial
and local elections, originally scheduled for 26 April, were postponed without specifying a new date.
The postponement threw up an additive to the political challenge in Serbia. On 6 May the state of
emergency was lifted and the Serbian government increased limits on gatherings from 100 to 500,
leading to the resumption of some campaign activities.

The Republic finally conducted their elections in June for the 250 members of the National Assembly
along with other elections in the country. On June 21, 2020 over six million electors in Serbia called
upon to cast their ballot at the parliamentary, provincial and local elections.

These were the first national elections to take place in Europe following a series of postponements and
cancellations of elections due to the ongoing pandemic. These were also the first elections that were
held in Serbia after the enforcement of new provisions to promote the participation of persons with
disabilities, women and minorities.

Exercise for Mitigating COVID-19 Risk at Elections

The Election Commission of Serbia (RIK) firstly carried out a detailed exercise for mitigating COVID-19
risk to the electors and other stakeholders. The exercise included identification of potential risk at

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Local Newspapers helped
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