Republic Electoral Commission and ODIHR Continue Successful Cooperation

At today's meeting, the representatives of the ODIHR Observation Mission presented the recommendations from the Report of its Election Observation Mission and expressed readiness to continue its successful cooperation with the Republic Electoral Commission.

In the meeting with the representatives of the ODIHR Observation Mission, the Chairperson of the Republic Electoral Commission Vladimir Dimitrijevic stated that the existing cooperation should be further strengthened through future joint projects. The participants of the meeting noted that the REC provided all the necessary assistance to the ODIHR mission and actively participated in raising the confidence of all participants in the June local elections in Serbia. The REC Chairperson thanked the representatives of the mission for the Report on the observation of the June local elections in Serbia, which he assessed as comprehensive and in accordance with the previous practice of the ODIHR. Although the Republic Electoral Commission has limited capacities in terms of conducting elections at the local level, it was concluded that it is necessary for the REC to further improve the electoral process, especially in the area of ​​training the bodies conduction the election, as well as voter education, and in accordance with the already adopted acts of the Commission that are harmonised with ODIHR recommendations. Vladimir Dimitrijevic went on to say that, in addition to special materials, the REC also opened a FAQ page on its web presentation related to local elections and published all acts of local electoral commissions. In addition, an educational campaign aimed at all voters was launched on the REC Instagram account and support was provided for the processing of applications and the activities of foreign observers concerning the observation of past successfully conducted local elections in the Republic of Serbia.

Dimitrijevic announced that the REC, in cooperation with the ODIHR, will additionally work on the further improvement of the electoral process, through a special sector within the National Assembly Support Service that will exclusively support the work of the REC, thus fulfilling another ODIHR recommendation.

In addition to REC representatives, the meeting was attended by representatives of the ODIHR Observation Mission, Meaghan Fitzgerald, head of the Election Department, Keara Castaldo, Senior Election Adviser, and Raul Muresan, project coordinator.