881 polling stations for minorities, one in K Mitrovica

BELGRADE - Elections for the members of national minority councils will be held at 881 polling stations in Serbia, including one in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, said Veljko Odalovic, Deputy Secretary of the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) on Thursday.

OSCE has agreed to hold the elections in Kosovo-Metohija as well and one polling station will be open in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, where 405 voters have been registered, Odalovic said.

"The final preparations are underway to allow members of the minorities living in that city and other parts of Kosovo to exercise their right to vote" Odalovic told a press conference held as part of the Minority News project.

The process of voter registration has been completed and all electoral materials have been translated into the languages of national minorities, he said, adding that the forms are the same for all 17 slates.

Around 400 observers - 350 from Serbia and 50 from other countries - applied to monitor the elections, meaning that, on average, each observer will visit at least two polling stations, said Odalovic.

Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Nina Fira said that 457,717 voters are registered in the special electoral rolls for the election of members of the national minority councils, or approximately 30,000 voters more than in the previous elections.

Members of 17 national minority councils are elected directly, while the members of Macedonian, Montenegrin and Croatian councils are elected in assemblies of electors, Fira said, adding that 340 electors have applied for the election, and that RIK has so far verified 313 of them.

All the preparations for the elections, scheduled for October 26, have...