Deciding on the appeal filed by Tijana Marić, the submitter of the confirmed electoral list “United for Kosjerić”, against the decision of the Municipal Election Commission of Kosjerić (No. 013-133/25), the Higher Court in Užice issued judgment Už. 5/25, which:
- upholds the appeal and annuls the decision of the Municipal Election Commission of Kosjerić,
- upholds the objection filed by Tijana Marić, submitter of the confirmed electoral list “United for Kosjerić,” and annuls the voting at polling station 25 (premises of the public utility company KJP “Elan”) in the election for members of the Municipal Assembly of Kosjerić held on June 8, 2025.
The Court https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/extfile/sr/files/objections/663/047/888035_%D0%9F%D0%A0%D0%95%D0%A1%D0%A3%D0%94%D0%90.pdf concluded that the appeal was well-founded and that the Election Commission had not fully established the facts. By examining the extract from the Unified Voter Register for polling station 25 in Kosjerić, the Court found that Zdenka Josipović was not registered as a voter, although her name was written under ordinal number 227, instead of Jasmina Melentijević (Petronija). Despite this, the polling board allowed her to vote at that polling station.
In the reasoning of the judgment, the Court stated that the polling board enabled a person who was not listed in the voter register extract to vote, and that the Election Commission, when deciding on the objection submitted because of this irregularity, was obliged to establish that the objection was justified and to adopt a decision ex officio annulling the voting at that polling station.
The Court referred to relevant legal provisions and established judicial practice, which it cited in detail, concerning the principle that an election commission must act ex officio and annul the vote when the legal conditions for doing so are met, even in cases where the polling board record was signed without objections.
The Court also concluded that the appeal correctly argued that OIK member Svetozar Surtov did not unlawfully inspect the election material in order to verify whether Zdenka Josipović had voted.
As the Court noted, the other arguments raised in the appeal were also considered, but they were not decisive for the Court’s ruling.
Given the established facts indicating a violation of legal procedure, which requires the annulment of the vote ex officio, the Court decided on the merits of the case, in accordance with the law and as proposed in the appeal, and annulled the voting at polling station 25 in Kosjerić.
In accordance with this judgment and Article 58 of the Law on Local Elections, voting at a polling station must be repeated if the vote at that polling station has been annulled. The Election Commission must adopt a decision on holding the repeat vote within three days from the publication of the decision annulling the vote, and the repeat voting must be conducted within ten days from the adoption of that decision.
- upholds the appeal and annuls the decision of the Municipal Election Commission of Kosjerić,
- upholds the objection filed by Tijana Marić, submitter of the confirmed electoral list “United for Kosjerić,” and annuls the voting at polling station 25 (premises of the public utility company KJP “Elan”) in the election for members of the Municipal Assembly of Kosjerić held on June 8, 2025.
The Court https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/extfile/sr/files/objections/663/047/888035_%D0%9F%D0%A0%D0%95%D0%A1%D0%A3%D0%94%D0%90.pdf concluded that the appeal was well-founded and that the Election Commission had not fully established the facts. By examining the extract from the Unified Voter Register for polling station 25 in Kosjerić, the Court found that Zdenka Josipović was not registered as a voter, although her name was written under ordinal number 227, instead of Jasmina Melentijević (Petronija). Despite this, the polling board allowed her to vote at that polling station.
In the reasoning of the judgment, the Court stated that the polling board enabled a person who was not listed in the voter register extract to vote, and that the Election Commission, when deciding on the objection submitted because of this irregularity, was obliged to establish that the objection was justified and to adopt a decision ex officio annulling the voting at that polling station.
The Court referred to relevant legal provisions and established judicial practice, which it cited in detail, concerning the principle that an election commission must act ex officio and annul the vote when the legal conditions for doing so are met, even in cases where the polling board record was signed without objections.
The Court also concluded that the appeal correctly argued that OIK member Svetozar Surtov did not unlawfully inspect the election material in order to verify whether Zdenka Josipović had voted.
As the Court noted, the other arguments raised in the appeal were also considered, but they were not decisive for the Court’s ruling.
Given the established facts indicating a violation of legal procedure, which requires the annulment of the vote ex officio, the Court decided on the merits of the case, in accordance with the law and as proposed in the appeal, and annulled the voting at polling station 25 in Kosjerić.
In accordance with this judgment and Article 58 of the Law on Local Elections, voting at a polling station must be repeated if the vote at that polling station has been annulled. The Election Commission must adopt a decision on holding the repeat vote within three days from the publication of the decision annulling the vote, and the repeat voting must be conducted within ten days from the adoption of that decision.
