Srpska Lista candidates for mayors got more than 50% of votes in nine Serb-majority municipalities in Sunday’s elections. However, the party’s candidate in the tenth Serb-majority municipality – Klokot did not obtain the support of more than half of the voters. Based on preliminary data from the CEC, Klokot is one of the municipalities that will have a second ballot.
As expected, Srpska Lista came out on top in Kosovo Serb areas in local elections held on Sunday.
The highest turnout was recorded in the north of Kosovo, where this party also reported the best results, both when it comes to candidates for mayors and candidates for councilors.
Although the party won in the Serb-majority municipalities south of the Ibar, the votes obtained in these areas are not as high as is the case with the north, where SL candidates received over 80% or 90% of the votes, or in Ranilug, where the party’s candidate and the only candidate for mayor received, got 100% of the vote.
In Novo Brdo, the party’s candidate, Sasa Milosevic, won 64.09% of the vote, while in Gracanica municipality, Ljiljana Subaric received 77.71%.
In Partes, Dragan Petkovic won 75.20%, and Dalibor Jevtic got 59.36% of the votes in Strpce.
SL candidates for mayors won the votes of over 50% of electorates in all these Serb-majority municipalities, except for Klokot.
Vladan Bogdanovic, the SL candidate in this municipality, won 41.45% of the votes. On the other hand, Strahinja Spasic, a fellow candidate in Klokot, from the civic initiative Srpska Narodna Sloga, won 36.14% of the vote. The third spot went to Sasa Mirkovic from Narodno Jedinstvo, who gained 22.41% of the vote.
According to the preliminary data of the Central Election Commission, 21 municipalities, including Klokot, in Kosovo will have to hold a second ballot to elect new mayors.
The Law on Local Elections stipulates that if not a single candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, plus one vote out of the total number, a second ballot is organized. During the second round, the electorates can cast their votes for two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes during the first round.
This law also states that the second round must be held four weeks after the first round. The candidate who gets the majority of votes in the second round of elections is elected as mayor.
Four persons suspected of „violating the free choice of voters“ and „giving or taking bribes in connection with voting“ were arrested in Klokot the day before the elections.
As the prosecutor’s office in Gnjilane told Kallxo yesterday, one of those arrested is the son of the mayor of Klokot, who is suspected of vote-buying. The other persons arrested on Saturday are relatives of candidates for councilors.
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