The data analysed by MANS show that during the past presidential and last year’s local elections, several political entities made unauthorized copies of voter lists, which is why there is a suspicion that the Law on Personal Data Protection was violated. The voter lists were copied by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Europe Now Movement, Civic Movement URA and the electoral list I choose Bar, which is why MANS today sent initiatives to the competent Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information (APDP) with a call to react urgently.
The official report on the funds spent during the presidential campaign that DPS submitted for its candidate, Milo Đukanović, also contained information on the expenses of copying election materials and voter lists. Thus, the amount of 300 euros was paid to the Municipal Election Commission of Cetinje for the service of “photocopying election materials”, while additional 338 euros was paid to a private company to “copy registers of voter lists of the Municipality of Herceg Novi”.
During the campaign for presidential elections, the voter lists were copied on several occasions by the Europe Now Movement, and the service was performed by a private company for the amount of around 250 euros, as stated in the official report on the funds spent for the campaign of the current president, Jakov Milatović.
Similar examples were recorded during last year’s local elections, held in October in several Montenegrin municipalities.
The data show that the Civic Movement URA copied voter lists while leading the electoral list “Dr. Dritan Abazović – Bar can do it! Montenegro can do it!” in the local elections in Bar, and the lists in that town were also copied by DPS, as well as by the list “Radomir Novaković Cakan – I choose Bar”. All listed political entities copied the voter lists from the same private company.
In last year’s elections in Danilovgrad, DPS led the election list “The Right Thing – Coalition Stable forward for Danilovgrad”, and the official reports also revealed the expenses of copying the voter list in the amount of 80 euros, which was paid to the Municipal Election Commission of Danilovgrad.
Today, MANS submitted initiatives to the competent APDP due to the suspicion that political entities DPS, the Europe Sad Movement, the Civic Movement URA and I choose Bar had violated the Law on Personal Data Protection and used private data of citizens without authorization.
The voter lists contain personal data of citizens, including the identity number, and their unauthorized possession is a violation of this law, punishable by a fine of up to 20,000 euros.
On the other hand, Montenegrin Law on the Voter List stipulates that political parties and other authorized entities can access the voter’s list only through a computer connection (with the help of an “advanced electronic certificate”), which is provided by the Ministry of the Interior.
In the same law, it is stated that “the information system for maintaining the voter list is protected in such a way that the data from the voter list cannot be copied or printed, but an insight into it may be obtained.”
MANS expects the competent APDP to determine in an urgent procedure how the mentioned political parties came into possession of the voter list that they had copied, who had access to the personal data of the citizens and whether and to what extent the information system of the MoI related to the keeping of voter list is compromised.
MANS
