At the press conference, the Coalition “Under Scrutiny” presented the first findings of the civil, non-partisan observation of the election day.
For election day, Under Scrutiny hired a total of 888 civil, non-partisan observers who will monitor the entire election process at polling stations, from the opening of polling stations, through the voting process and the application of new election technologies, to the closing of polling stations, the counting of votes and the packing of election materials.
At most polling stations, observers from the “Under Scrutiny” Coalition had no problems accessing the polling stations. Certain problems were recorded at 1.6% of polling stations, where lists of accredited observers were not provided to the polling boards or the polling boards did not allow the observers access to the polling station before 7:00 am. These are sporadic procedural failures that did not endanger the observation mission of the “Under Scrutiny” Coalition, and which were rectified in a timely manner, allowing the observers to continue monitoring the election process.
More than half of the polling stations were opened on time, 52.1% of them. With a slight delay of up to 15 minutes, 37% of polling stations were opened. 10.1% of polling stations were opened by 8:00 a.m., while an insignificant number of polling stations were opened after 8:00 a.m., 0.8% of them. The aforementioned delays occur slightly more than in previous election cycles (in the Local Elections of 2024, 76% of polling stations opened at exactly 7:00 a.m.), which may be related to the preparation of polling stations with election technologies, but also to the preparation of the election administration. For example, in 7.6% of observed polling stations, all members of the polling committee were not present at the polling station at 6:00 a.m. when they were supposed to be, which was especially important now that new technologies are being introduced.
By 9:30 a.m., a total of 46 serious forms of violation of election rules were recorded, which mainly refer to the prohibition of observation, certain problems with election materials or violation of procedures at the polling station.
Additionally, given that the “Under Scrutiny” Coalition is monitoring the implementation of new technologies at polling stations, the first information shows that before the opening of polling stations, new election technologies were put into operation in 99% of polling stations. 98.8% of procedures were followed in the form of printing initial reports. And at all these polling stations it is possible to view the report.
In 2.7% of polling stations, the operator for new technologies was not at the polling station at 6:00 am. At 2% of polling stations, the prescribed instructions to voters for marking and scanning ballots were not visibly displayed.
We invite all voters to go to the polls today! The voter should not be afraid of new technologies. They were not introduced to make it more difficult for us to exercise our right to vote, but to further protect that right. This time, no one can know who voted and the voter’s vote goes exactly to whom it is meant for! – they said from the Coalition “Under scrutiny”.
The “Under Scrutiny” coalition invites citizens to report any election irregularities they see via the free phone number 080 05 05 05 or the online form https://neregularnosti.podlupom.org/. Electoral irregularities can also be reported anonymously, the Under Scrutiny coalition announced.
