Serbia Against Violence wants Belgrade local elections annulled

BELGRADE - The opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition said on Monday that, based on 81 pct of votes counted, it had 21,000 votes fewer than the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Sunday's elections for the Belgrade city assembly.

The coalition said more than 40,000 people without legal residence in Belgrade had been brought to the capital in an organised manner to vote for the SNS electoral list and that the electoral will of Belgraders had been "drastically altered" as a result.

Demanding an annulment of the local elections in Belgrade and a repeat vote, it said the electoral roll must be revised to eliminate non-existent voters.

The coalition has announced it would not accept the electoral results released by the SNS for the Belgrade polls and one of its leaders, Miroslav Aleksic, said last night Serbia Against Violence and the SNS were, in fact, "about tied" in the number of votes won.

According to electoral results released by CeSiD and Ipsos, based on 95 pct of votes counted, the SNS-led list, named Belgrade Must Not Stop, won 38.7 pct of votes, while the Serbia Against Violence list won 34.7 pct.