Belgrade electoral commission says is not competent to order full repeat vote

BELGRADE, - In response to a complaint by the opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition, the City of Belgrade electoral commission on Thursday declared itself not competent to order a repeat vote at all polling stations in its territory, its President Zoran Lukic told Tanjug.

He said such a request by the coalition had been referred to the national electoral commission for further action.

Previously, the head of the national electoral commission, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, said he had informed the commission's members, the public, representatives of local and international observers and the media that the body could in no way be involved in carrying out the ongoing electoral procedure in Belgrade, let alone have influence on whether new elections would be called.

He noted that, under the Law on Local Elections, the city electoral commission was authorised only to order a repeat vote at individual polling stations where the voting had been annulled, and not at all polling stations.

He said a decision on repeat elections was exclusively up to other state authorities, rather than authorities tasked with carrying out the elections.