For the first time, the right to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections was granted to 3,621 voters older than 40, showed the analysis of the electoral register conducted by MANS’s program for monitoring and analysis. Such mass registering of middle-aged and elderly citizens is questionable because those are mainly citizens born in Montenegro.
In fact, none of those persons had the right to vote in the last three election cycles at the state level – the parliamentary elections of 2009 and 2012, as well as the presidential election in 2013 – this is the first time they were registered to vote.
What is very suspicious about these cases is the fact that some of them are in their old age, even older than 100. For example, J.S, 111-year old, who was born in Kotor in 1905 and currently residing in Budva, at “Polje bb”, was registered to vote for the first time. She will be enabled to exercise her voting right at „Slovenska Plaza Tourist Resort”.
Similar is the example of K.V, who was born in Kotor in 1914, currently residing in Herceg Novi, at “Klinci bb“. She can vote at “Lustica 1”. Also, R.Z, born 1915 in Plav, currently residing in Budva at „Dositejeva 43″, can exercise the voting right “BSP Centar”.
M.K, born in 1915 in Podgorica, where he still resides at “Vucedolska 7”, has the right to vote at the “Gallery of Contemporary Arts – Center”. D.J, who was born in Savnik in 1916, residing at „Sirovac bb”, can vote at “School in Sirovac“.
What aggravates the situation is the fact that the same practice was observed during the previous elections, when MANS discovered and invasion of “instant” voters who received the voting right in one election cycle, and afterwards disappeared from the electoral roll.
For example, for the presidential elections of 2013, 617 voters were registered for the first time. At that time, there were those who had died decades ago.
The most conspicuous example is the case of B. R. from Berane, who was registered for the first time in Berane, at the polling station “Bubanje”, for the presidential elections. At that time, the person had been dead for nearly three decades, as she died in 1985. The similar were the cases of K. J, who was registered in Danilovgrad 20 years after his death, and S.B, from the same town, who died in 1992.
There was another case from Berane – P.R. was registered for the first time for the presidential election, although she had died in 1996. H.H. from Ulcinj died 15 years before the presidential election in 2013.
Also, on the eve of parliamentary elections in 2012, in the same way, for the first time as a voter is registered in 1521 the face of which no one had the right to vote in the previous election and subsequent cycles.
Entering a large number of elderly voters, who had never had the right to vote before, can be a huge space for manipulation, taking into account the earlier practice. Due to months of obstruction by officials of the Ministry of Interior, who did not allow MANS to access the data relevant to the control of the electoral register, there was no detailed inspection of each of these suspicious voters.
Thus the role of the Ministry is very important in this case. It must make a thorough check of all newly registered voters born in Montenegro and of old age, before the conclusion of the electoral register. Only in this way it can be ensured that the electoral register is free from deceased and phantom voters.
This text is created with the support of the European Union and the U.S. Embassy Podgorica. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
Deletion from the register also suspicious
MANS’s analysis showed that there have been numerous manipulations and disenfranchisement on the eve of a number of election cycles at the state level. For example, right before the presidential elections, over 3,000 persons who had had the right to vote in the two previous parliamentary election cycles, were erased from the electoral register. However, they will have the right to vote in the upcoming elections.
The same is happening with over 500 voters who were deleted from the electoral register ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2012, though they had had the right to vote in the elections of 2009 and 2013 and will also have it in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
