Serbs Abroad Travel Thousands of Kilometers to Polling Stations — Balkan Insight
Serbian citizens abroad are organizing shared trips, accommodation and transfers to polling stations ahead of Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections. The country’s authorities approved the opening of 93 polling stations abroad, but their number has been criticized as insufficient for registered voters, Balkan Insight reports.
Thousands of kilometers to vote
Only two polling stations will operate in Canada — in Toronto and Ottawa. Voters from Vancouver and Victoria must travel approximately 4,000 kilometers one way, crossing several time zones. More than 800 people registered to vote in Vancouver, but no polling station was opened there or in Calgary. Volunteers from Toronto are offering visitors accommodation and transport.
In Australia, Brisbane residents are preparing to travel about 900 kilometers to Sydney by bus, car or plane, as Serbia’s Electoral Commission refused to open polling stations in several more cities. According to community representative Nemanja Đurović, 130 voters registered in Brisbane contacted his group and expressed support for the student movement.
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Help through social media
In Italy and Spain, Serbs are coordinating shared trips through Facebook groups. They are also using the VoteBnB platform: its creators reported 1,343 accommodation offers and 742 transport offers. According to them, local coordinators in more than 30 cities are helping voters with transport and accommodation.
In France, voters from Toulouse, where 107 people registered but no polling station was opened, hired a minibus and organized shared trips to Paris. A group from Montpellier also rented a minibus and plans to pick up students from Bordeaux on the way. In California, where the only polling station will operate in Los Angeles, organizers recorded about 680 registrations across the state; around 50 Los Angeles residents offered accommodation to those coming to vote. Voting there is scheduled from 11:00 p.m. on October 24 until noon the following day, local time.
In the election, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party of Aleksandar Vučić will compete against opposition forces led by students. The creators of VoteBnB called their initiative part of efforts against what they described as Serbia’s democratic backsliding under Vučić’s rule.
