Election Commission postpones decision on polling station screens

The RIK was due to decide whether to introduce new screens to separate voters at polling stations. The proposal put before the RIK is for new screens closed on four sides with a curtain. At present voters are divided by pieces of cardboard set up between voters sitting at tables.

President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier on Wednesday that the OSCE’s ODIHR wants the new screens at polling stations, adding that they will cost between 7 and 8 million Euro. “It’s better for us not to do this but ODIHR demanded it. We have to set aside 7 or 8 million Euro for that thing because they want us to meet ODIHR recommendations,” Vucic told reporters.

ODIHR has been warning of problems with secrecy at polling stations since the 2008 parliamentary elections when its report said that the layout of the polling stations and the quality of the voter screens could be standardized in such a way as to better preserve the secrecy of the vote. In 2014, ODIHR recommended improving ballot secrecy through “adequate polling facilities, better voting screens and instructions on the layout of polling stations”.

Early in 2017, the RIK said it introduced bigger screens to protect the privacy of voters and claiming it was implementing earlier ODIHR recommendations.

In December 2023, RIK said there had been demands to change the orientation of the screens adding that the change ran counter to ODIHR recommendations since “turning the screen toward the polling-board members could compromise ballot secrecy”.

Following the 2024 local elections, ODIHR said that the layout of polling stations and the design and placement of voting screens should be improved.