Kosovo police have begun to collect information on possible abuse of votes in the Municipality of South Mitrovica, said by the Basic Prosecution in Mitrovica.
“Police are gathering information about allegations of misuse of votes in the location,” the spokesman for the Basic Prosecution in Mitrovica, Valon Preteni, told RFE / RL.
The announcement comes two days after Kosovo organized the first round of local elections. According to preliminary results, this municipality will go to the runoff.
The difference in votes between the first two candidates for mayor, Arian Tahiri of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and Faton Peci from the Vetevendosje Movement, is very small.
There have been differences between the initial surveys, published shortly after the closure of the polling stations, and the preliminary result published by the Central Election Commission. Therefore, then claims of possible abuse of votes have emerged in the public.
Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, who is at the same time the head of the Vetevendosje Movement, invited the justice authorities the day after the election to launch investigations into the Exit Polls published.
However, Kurti was criticized by civil society members for this statement.
The legal adviser at the European Center for Freedom of the Press and the Media, Flutura Kusari, wrote on Facebook that Kurti’s statement is “incorrect” that the publication of surveys was interference with the electoral process, arguing that they were published after the voting was completed.
Kusari called on the pursuit bodies to “stay as far as the idea of investigating reports and companies that make Exit Poll”.
She said these surveys have to pay “in credibility, just as they should pay credibility moderators of shows that have provided us inaccurate information, especially if they engage the same companies again”.
Otherwise, the CEC has said that he believes this week will conclude the process of counting all votes for local elections.
According to current results, 21 municipalities have elected their mayors since the first round, while 17 others go to the November 9 runoff. /REL/
