Voter registration for Kosovo elections extended by two weeks
(Lubomir Kotek/OSCE)A Serb voter registers for the upcoming elections at the Voters
Registration Centre in Gracanica. The Centre, which opened on
30 July, will play a vital role in compiling the list of eligible
voters from Kosovo's Serb community in Gracanica. (Lubomir Kotek/OSCE) Photo details
PRISTINA, 6 September 2001 (OSCE) - The deadline for registering to vote in the forthcoming elections for a Central Assembly in Kosovo has been extended by two weeks, until 22 September, 2001. The extension period will not only apply to voter registration operations in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, but also to the mail-in process being co- ordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Vienna.
The Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Daan Everts, said that the decision had been taken in response to what he called, "the quite spectacular surge" in demand to register over the past fortnight, especially amongst Kosovo's smaller communities.
"It would not be right to stop the process this weekend when the momentum to register is clearly there. The OSCE wants a Voters' List which is as accurate and as inclusive as possible. What we've done over the past six weeks is to mount a very focused drive to reach out to those communities which did not take part in the process last year. We've also been targeting all those Kosovo Albanians who have returned to Kosovo since the last election and have been added to the Civil Register but now need to be advised on where to vote on 17 November."
Ambassador Everts welcomed recent statements by political leaders from inside and outside Kosovo, encouraging the communities to take part in the registration process, which had clearly had a positive impact.
Latest voter registration figures confirm the upward trend of the past fortnight. By close of business on Wednesday 5 September, a total of 23,582 people had visited Civil Registration and Voter Services sites for communities in Kosovo which chose not to register last year - almost 3,500 on Wednesday alone. Those who have visited Voter Services Centres to check or update their details on the Voters' List number 58,493. These include people who have changed address in the past year, or who were obliged to vote by conditional ballot last year.
However, OSCE election officials remain concerned about the low number of Kosovo Albanians registered with the United Nations since the 2000 Municipal Elections that have visited the Voter Services Centres to find out where they should vote on 17 November. Roughly 80,000 of these voters still need to be assigned polling centres. The OSCE strongly urges them to take advantage of the deadline. The process only takes a few minutes but will save them, other voters and polling station staff a lot of trouble on Election Day.
They can visit one of the 47 fixed Voter Services Centres around Kosovo which will open for business as usual on Monday 10 September. Meanwhile, 35 joint OSCE/UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) mobile registration teams will revisit about 100 locations populated by small, isolated communities. The final deadline will be Saturday 22 September. It will not be possible to extend beyond that date and still leave sufficient time to produce the updated 2001 Voters' List in time for this year's Central Assembly elections.
Outside Kosovo, the latest figures from the IOM show that 57,624 people have registered in Serbia and 1,984 in Montenegro. A total of 13,498 mail-in applications received have been approved so far.
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For further information, contact Ms. Laura O'Mahony, Press OfficerTel: (+381-38) 500-162 ext. 118, e-mail: press@omik.org
The Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Daan Everts, said that the decision had been taken in response to what he called, "the quite spectacular surge" in demand to register over the past fortnight, especially amongst Kosovo's smaller communities.
"It would not be right to stop the process this weekend when the momentum to register is clearly there. The OSCE wants a Voters' List which is as accurate and as inclusive as possible. What we've done over the past six weeks is to mount a very focused drive to reach out to those communities which did not take part in the process last year. We've also been targeting all those Kosovo Albanians who have returned to Kosovo since the last election and have been added to the Civil Register but now need to be advised on where to vote on 17 November."
Ambassador Everts welcomed recent statements by political leaders from inside and outside Kosovo, encouraging the communities to take part in the registration process, which had clearly had a positive impact.
Latest voter registration figures confirm the upward trend of the past fortnight. By close of business on Wednesday 5 September, a total of 23,582 people had visited Civil Registration and Voter Services sites for communities in Kosovo which chose not to register last year - almost 3,500 on Wednesday alone. Those who have visited Voter Services Centres to check or update their details on the Voters' List number 58,493. These include people who have changed address in the past year, or who were obliged to vote by conditional ballot last year.
However, OSCE election officials remain concerned about the low number of Kosovo Albanians registered with the United Nations since the 2000 Municipal Elections that have visited the Voter Services Centres to find out where they should vote on 17 November. Roughly 80,000 of these voters still need to be assigned polling centres. The OSCE strongly urges them to take advantage of the deadline. The process only takes a few minutes but will save them, other voters and polling station staff a lot of trouble on Election Day.
They can visit one of the 47 fixed Voter Services Centres around Kosovo which will open for business as usual on Monday 10 September. Meanwhile, 35 joint OSCE/UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) mobile registration teams will revisit about 100 locations populated by small, isolated communities. The final deadline will be Saturday 22 September. It will not be possible to extend beyond that date and still leave sufficient time to produce the updated 2001 Voters' List in time for this year's Central Assembly elections.
Outside Kosovo, the latest figures from the IOM show that 57,624 people have registered in Serbia and 1,984 in Montenegro. A total of 13,498 mail-in applications received have been approved so far.
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For further information, contact Ms. Laura O'Mahony, Press OfficerTel: (+381-38) 500-162 ext. 118, e-mail: press@omik.org