Rise in Blank Ballots Predicted in Serbian Election

A sharp rise in the number of blank ballots in the Serbian general election will throw a question mark over the political system's legitimacy, experts have said.

A recent poll by ProPositiv agency suggested that more than 5 per cent of the voters will deliberately spoil or annul their ballots in this way.

The phenomenon became noticeable in the 2012 election, when several influential intellectuals started a so-called "white ballot" campaign, designed to pinpoint the lack of real choices in the vote.

More than 4 per cent of votes, around 170,000 in all, were deemed spoiled during the subsequent count.

Last week's ProPositiv survey suggested that the upcoming April elections could see a record number of voters showing their dissatisfaction by leaving the ballot paper blank.

Stefan Aleksic, a political scientist and a publicist, told BIRN that the phenomenon reflected a global crisis in the legitimacy of political elites by resentful citizens who feel there is a lack of real democracy.

"The people are bitter since they feel the politicians all are the same. The rise of 'white ballots' shows how political elites are alienated from society," Aleksic said.

In Serbia, people do not see real alternatives, since most mainstream parties have much the same political and ideological programs, he added.

"Even when we change the politicians in power, we feel we are not changing anything. The differences are cosmetic," Aleksic continued.

Vesna Rakic Vodinelic, a law expert and one of the promoters of the "white ballot" action in 2012, said nothing much had changed in the last four years.

Vodinelic is now a member of Nova Stranka, a party formed on the eve of the 2014 elections, which is in coalition with the Democratic...