Polls close in Kosovo

All polls in the early parliamentary elections in Kosovo closed at 19:00 CET on Sunday, Pristina-based media have reported.

(kosovocompromisestuff) Monday, June 09, 2014

The early elections for 120 members of the Kosovo parliament were run for the first time throughout the Kosovo territory, including four Serb-dominated municipalities in the north.A total of 1,782,454 voters were able to exercise the right to elect members of the Kosovo parliament, which is about 40,000 people more than the number of citizens registers in Kosovo's population census in 2011.
In order for political parties to win seats in the Kosovo parliament, they should cross the threshold of five percent, while the threshold for coalitions stands at seven percent of the vote.Minority communities have 20 guaranteed seats, 10 of which belong to Serbs and the other ten to other national communities in Kosovo.By 15:00 CET, 3,100 citizens out of a total of 26,832 registered with the electoral roll in Kosovska Mitrovica cast ballots in Kosovo's early parliamentary elections on Sunday. The early parliamentary elections in Kosovska Mitrovica and other towns in the north, where the vote for Kosovo MPs is being held for the first time, are running peacefully in a stepped up presence of law enforcement bodies.Slobodan Dimitrijevic, president of the Municipal Electoral Commission, told Tanjug that a total of 3,100 citizens cast votes at 33 polling stations in Mitrovica by 15:00 CET, adding that no irregularities or problems have been reported. Until 11:00 CET, a total of 830 citizens cast their vote in Kosovska Mitrovica, out of a total of 26,832 voters registered with the city electoral roll.Slobodan Dimitrijevic, president of the Municipal Electoral Commission in North Mitrovica, told Tanjug that no irregularities or any other problem regarding the electoral process have been recorded at 33 polling stations in Mitrovica. Out of thirty political entities that will participate in the elections, five are Serb-led parties.As Tanjug learned from Nenad Rikalo, Serb member of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the voters in the early parliamentary elections may use all valid documents, adding that provisional ballots are also allowed.The polling stations in Kosovo-Metohija opened at 07:00 CET and the election materials were delivered to north Kosovo early on Sunday by OSCE representatives, who were escorted by members of the EULEX special police.The early parliamentary elections in Kosovo are monitored by over 2,000 domestic and international observers including observers from the EU.Harsh measures have been announced against those who abuse the voting right, and more than 100 prosecutors have been appointed to cooperate with police investigators in combating the abuse of the voting right.KFOR guarantees security to all on election day:KFOR Commander Italian General Salvatore Farina said in Kosovska Mitrovica that KFOR guarantees the safety of all citizens in Kosovo on the day of elections as well. Farina visited on Sunday morning KFOR soldiers deployed in front of a polling center in the northern part of Mitrovica, after which he said that KFOR works closely with the Kosovo Police and EULEX.  We assure people that they are free to cast votes or not, Farina said. Kosovo is running early parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time throughout the territory including the four municipalities with Serbian majority in the north.The polling stations in Kosovo-Metohija opened at 07:00 CET and the election materials were delivered to north Kosovo early on Sunday by OSCE representatives, who were escorted by members of the EULEX special police.A total of 33 polls in seven polling centers opened in Kosovskoj Mitrovici with 26.832 citizens registered in the electoral roll. A total of 1,782,454 voters are able to exercise the right to elect 120 members of the Kosovo parliament, which is about 40,000 people more than the number of citizens registers in Kosovo's population census in 2011.The polls will close at 19:00 CET and, as announced by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the preliminary results are expected around midnight. Citizens should support Serbian government's policy:Ljubomir Maric, coordinator of the management team for the establishment of the community of Serb municipalities, has called for the greatest possible turnout in support of the Serbian government's policy in the early parliamentary elections held in Kosovo on Sunday.I wish to use this opportunity to call for the greatest possible turnout in Kosovo in support of the Serbian government's policy, which would ensure the greatest possible number of seats, implementation of the government's policy and our participation in decision making, Maric told a news briefing.