In Serbia, local elections are held where citizens elect the city government in Belgrade and 66 other cities and municipalities, as well as 23 city municipalities.
The elections are monitored by 1,581 local and 156 foreign observers, and the non-governmental organization Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) announced that 20 irregularities were reported by 9:00 a.m., such as delays in opening polls, voting on behalf of other persons and family voting.
Local elections are held in the largest Serbian cities of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, and the focus will be on the Serbian capital, where 1.6 million voters have the right to vote.
The Belgrade elections follow after the ruling Serbian Progressive Party failed to form a ruling majority in the city assembly following the elections held at the end of last year.
The OSCE observation mission (ODIHR) sent the Serbian authorities recommendations for improving the electoral process, especially the arrangement of the voter list, equal access of the opposition to the media and avoiding the so-called official campaigns.
Part of the opposition is boycotting the elections, primarily in Belgrade, because they believe that the ruling party did nothing to ensure that the elections were held in fair conditions for all parties.
