- 07-00-314/2024-02 date: 19 April 2024.
CITY OF BELGRADE
CITY ELECTION COMMISSION
Zoran Lukić, president
11000 BELGRADE
Kraljice Marije 1
Dear Mr. Lukić,
On April 18, 2024, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality received a letter from the Center for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities in Serbia, which indicates the need to ensure that blind people vote secretly and directly in the upcoming elections for representatives in the Belgrade City Assembly, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia.
We use this opportunity to remind you that the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality gave the City Election Commission of the City of Belgrade recommendation number 07-00-286/2018-02 from July 21, 2018, to take all the necessary measures and activities within its jurisdiction in order to organize elections in the future in such a way as to enable blind and partially sighted people to vote on accessible ballots, that is, in an accessible way, as well as to regulate the procedure of blind and partially sighted voting in its future regulations respecting the dignity of persons with disabilities.
On this occasion, the City Election Commission, by letter number 013-37-2/2018, dated September 13, 2018, informed the Commissioner about the action according to the recommendation and submitted its Conclusion no. 013-87-1/2018 of September 12, 2018, which was adopted at the 7th session held on September 12, 2018.
With this Conclusion, the City Election Commission was obliged to undertake all the necessary measures and activities within its jurisdiction in order to organize the elections for representatives in the Belgrade City Assembly in a way that enables blind and partially sighted people to vote on accessible ballots, that is, in an accessible way. Also, that in the future, when conducting elections for representatives in the Belgrade City Assembly, it will more closely regulate the procedure for conducting voting for the blind and partially sighted people respecting the dignity of persons with disabilities, as well as that in the case of simultaneous elections for the members of parliament and elections for representatives in the City of Belgrade Assembly, in accordance with the provisions of Article 15, paragraph 2 of the Law on Local Elections, it will inform the Republic Election Commission about this conclusion.
The upcoming and subsequent elections are an opportunity for a reasonable adjustment of polling stations and further improvement of the exercise of voting rights of blind people.
COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković
