Successful Referendum in Gevgelia, CIVIL notes minor irregularities

CIVIL – Center for Freedom monitored the Referendum that took place in Gevgelia on April 23, 2017. The Referendum question was “Are you in favor or against mining of metallic mineral resources on the territory of the Municipality of Gevgelia”, at which 19,363 registered voters of the municipality could vote, with 14,016 voters giving their votes until 17:00.

The Referendum was successful and was carried out in a peaceful atmosphere without any greater problems and irregularities, and started with a timely opening of all 37 polling stations.

However, CIVIL’s monitoring team did register several minor irregularities in the entire process, as well as on the day of the voting of the citizens.

The most serious notes are in regards to the competent institutions, in particular, the Municipal Election Commission. CIVIL’s monitoring team documented several cases of citizens being completely uninformed, and overall, insufficient efforts by the Municipal Election Commission are noted in terms of informing the local public about the Referendum in a timely and quality manner.

Also, minor flaws are noted in the work of the Electoral Boards, the UV lamp was not working in two polling stations, along with three cases of group voting. Problems are also noted with the Voters Register, that is, with violation of the voter’s right. Some of the voters were not able to find themselves on the Voters Register.

These are the key notes of the observers of CIVIL – Center for Freedom for the Referendum in Gevgelia until 19:00h.

CIVIL was open for reports from citizens on the day of the voting, as well as for contributions from citizen journalists. Reports on irregularities can still be submitted at the following telephone numbers: 078/746-138 and 077/691-526, while the website Free elections is also available for reporting electoral irregularities.

On this occasion, we remind the citizens that CIVIL recently also published an online Form for reporting political pressures, mobbing and discrimination. Reports can also be submitted through a message on the Facebook page Free Elections

CIVIL will submit the reports to the Municipal Election Commission in Gevgelia, and will inform the public about the Referendum through announcements, articles on CIVIL Media’s  website and through information on CIVIL’sI social networks.

CIVIL has been monitoring the preparations for the Referendum from the moment the members of the Gevgelia Municipal Council unanimously decided to conduct the referendum. The monitoring of the Referendum was carried out on a voluntary basis.