CSAI Encourages Serbian Citizens to Get Out the Vote

On January 21, 2007, Serbia came out to vote in the second parliamentary election following the fall of Milosevic in 2000 and establishment of a democratic system in the country.  The importance of the election was paramount at the time given Serbia’s  aspirations to join the European Union – citizens had an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that they are able and willing to engage in the democratic process and influence Serbia’s course towards its accession to the European family of nations.  Some 60.4% of the electorate voted at the election, and the democratic bloc of parties won an overwhelming majority corresponding to two-thirds of parliament seats. However, the nationalist-oriented Serbian Radical Party (SRS) won the most votes of any single party, which sent a warning message to the liberal forces in the country that the voice is still strong of those who played a major role in Serbia’s recent conflicts. Both the United States and the European Union praised the overall outcome of the election and congratulated the people of Serbia for choosing a pro-European course for their country.

ISC was actively involved in supporting Serbian civil society organizations to encourage citizens to vote in the parliamentary election with a message that only proactive and informed citizen participation opens the way towards building a stable democratic society that can understand and effectively address the issues that matter to citizens of all political beliefs and social, educational and cultural backgrounds. Through initiatives of ISC’s implementing partners and local NGO grantees from across the country, under the umbrella of a nation-wide Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign, citizens were urged to overcome the tradition of political inertia and social apathy and engage in using democratic mechanisms and institutions to shape a better future for all.   Additionally, ISC, through the Center for Free Elections and Democracy CeSID, supported monitoring of the constitutional referendum process throughout Serbia, to determine whether the process was managed in a transparent manner and in accordance with the law and to make public any irregularities.

ISC disbursed some 17 grants to civil society organizations (CSOs) throughout Serbia for GOTV activities, totaling nearly US $400,000. The CSO activities were diverse in terms of approach and strategy, but mainly focused on first-time voters and youth, to encourage a more active and informed electorate which will have a continued, long-term impact on Serbia’s democratic course.

Youth in Serbia have long been a marginalized part of the electorate that traditionally has not participated in politics or citizen activism. The country’s educational institutions, particularly universities, have not taken an active role in promoting the importance of participation among the young population. Moreover, the lack of initiative on the part of educational establishments to promote political discourse and debate among youth has left them uninformed and disinterested in participating in the country’s political life.  ISC’s local NGO grantees tackled this issue in a variety of ways, aimed at building the confidence of youth in their ability to influence their future through citizen participation. The activities were implemented throughout the country – from the northern municipalities of Vojvodina to the southern towns of Leskovac and Prokuplje.  Civic forums were organized with the idea to connect Serbian youth to political parties, their programs, vision, and platforms, particularly those concerning youth. The forums were organized at the university centers in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar, Kragujevac and Nis, and political parties were invited to put forward younger candidates from their lists to engage in a peer discussion with the students. Furthermore, mobilization of youth and first-time voters was done across the country through public street events, door-to-door educational campaigns involving distribution of pamphlets which explained the voting process and procedures, as well as efforts in cooperation with the local media. The overall aim of the initiative was to educate young people on the importance of their contribution to influencing the political direction of the country. The efforts extended to themed parties and events at popular sites of youth gatherings, where activists together with well-known local artists, musicians, and athletes explained the importance of voting.

The GOTV campaign also stretched beyond mobilizing youth and first-time voters.  ISC’s local NGO grantees implemented activities which targeted former democratic bloc voters from the 2000 election that brought about democratic change in Serbia. While many of these voters had since become more cynical and disenfranchised, they were encouraged to participate in the election by bringing them closer to political parties through civic forums with party candidates, street stands, television and newspaper advertisements, and televised discussions with party candidates.  Belgrade-based NGO European Movement in Serbia was also supported to participate in the GOTV campaign and implemented the project “Vote for Women’s Government” in cooperation with the daily Blic,which informed citizens about women experts and professionals who are able and willing to assume greater responsibility in governing the country and introduce fresh perspectives and arguments into the political discourse.  The project encouraged a greater turnout of women voters at the parliamentary election and resulted in a greater number of seats in the Serbian parliament held by women MPs.  Following the 2007 election, women MPs hold 51 out of 250 seats (20.4%) in the Serbian parliament.  Compared to the previous term, when women MPs held only 10.8% of the seats, the 2007 election brought about a significant improvement in representation of women in the Serbian parliament.  ISC’s implementing partners Civic Initiatives and Smart Kolektiv implemented a nationwide campaign titled “Your Vote/Voice Can Do It” [“Glas moze sve”] which presented a unifying theme to a number of locally-coordinated GOTV efforts. The campaign slogan pointed to a long-term goal to restore people’s faith in their ability to define their future. Civic Initiatives coordinated production of TV clips and distribution of print materials, while Smart Kolektiv coordinated broadcasting of the TV clips, production and broadcasting of radio clips as well as posting of advertisements around the city.

Belgrade-based NGO Transparency Serbia, with support of CSAI, implemented a project to monitor election campaign financing during the 2007 parliamentary election season. The 2007 party campaign financing remains a hot public issue that has been given significant media attention.  Transparency Serbia’s project collected data on campaign funding from parties’ official reports, data on the price of media advertisements carried out by the party candidates, available cost data on other means of advertising, and information from marketing agencies. This resulted in data which identified the correlation between electoral success and money spent, identified dominant sources of income, patterns of spending, as well as an analysis of media reactions. Transparency Serbia further issued a set of recommendations and communicated with relevant state authorities, domestic and international experts and organizations in order to share their findings and influence reforms where needed.