Albanians and Bosniaks mostly stayed at home

Accusations of "buying votes", pressure on voters... incidents, tensions... all that was characteristic of previous election cycles, were largely absent yesterday. The biggest irregularity was reported from Šavnik, where voting was interrupted at one polling station, as well as in Bijelo Polje, where members of a family claimed that they were "deceived" because they did not receive the money they were promised for voting.

Apart from the peaceful election day, the characteristic of yesterday's presidential race is the low turnout in areas where Bosniaks and Albanians are the majority population, with the exception of the municipality of Tuzi, where the percentage is slightly higher.

Data from the State Election Commission (SEC) and non-governmental organizations show that the turnout this year was about two percent higher than in previous elections. It was 64,06 percent yesterday, while in 2018 it was 62 percent.

Information from the SEC, based on a cross-section of causes, indicates that the highest turnout was in municipalities where the Democratic Front, Democrats, including Podgorica, are in power, while in areas where the majority are minority communities, which were previously the stronghold of DPS candidates, and she was very small.

The highest turnout was in Šavnik (81,88 percent), Nikšić (81,86 percent), then in Zeta, Mojkovac, Pljevlja, Plužine, Podgorica...

The lowest in Gusinje (30,12 percent), Petnjica (37,71 percent), Ulcinj (36,48 percent)... In Tuzi, the turnout percentage was 49,94.

President of the Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA) Mehmet Zenka he told "Vijesti" last night that they were "at the level".

As Zenko reminded, DUA supported the DPS candidate Milo Đukanović: "We were at the level, our members and supporters voted until 15-16 p.m.," he said.

Commenting on the low turnout in Ulcinj, Zenka said that the DUA respects what is agreed upon, but that he does not know about the others.

On the same occasion, a functionary of the GP URA and the president of the Municipality of Ulcinj Omer Bajraktari he said the low turnout was more or less expected. "People are not motivated, I think that's the reason," said Bajraktari, whose party supported the Democratic candidate. Aleks Bečić.

President of the State Election Commission (SEC) Nikola Mugoša he said last night that they did not receive complaints, while two non-governmental organizations that monitor the elections, CeMI and the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), reported violations of election silence and pressure on voters to vote for certain candidates.

When it comes to election irregularities, non-governmental organizations warned that mobile phones were used at polling stations, that ballots were photographed...

In Šavnik, voting was interrupted in the village of Dubrovsko, where 45 voters were registered. The reason is that one citizen is not allowed to vote, the president of the MEC Šavnik confirmed to "Vijesta". Dusan Radanović.

Police in Šavnik filed a criminal complaint against Lj. Ć. because of the suspicion that he violated electoral rights. He is suspected of "the criminal offense of violating the right to vote and the criminal offense of preventing voting."

"Lj. Ć. today, as is suspected, as a member of the polling committee at polling station number 6 in the town of Dubrovsko, he prevented a citizen from exercising his right to vote," the Police Administration said in a statement.

Investigative authorities are also checking the incident in Bijelo Polje, where the alleged buying of votes for the account of DPS was reported. Namely, seven family members Hajrovic from Kukulje near Bijelo Polje claims that DPS representatives distributed money for voting at the polling station in the elementary school in Kukulje, and that, although they were promised compensation for voting, they were deceived.

The Bijelo Polje board of DPS told "Vijesta" that they do not know anything about the incident, and that they do not know the persons mentioned.

"Vijesta" was unofficially informed by the Police Administration that yesterday on the plateau in front of polling station 39, in Kukulje, there was a conflict between several people, which did not affect the election process.

"One person submitted a report to the Bijelo Polje Security Department. The state prosecutor was informed about everything, who ordered the collection of information from several persons. The action of the police and the Prosecutor's Office is ongoing. "After collecting additional information, the prosecutor will make a statement about the possible qualification of the act", "Vijesti" was told unofficially.

An incident was also reported in Bijelo Polje when, as reported by CDT, at the Lozna polling station in Bijelo Polje, after the ballot was canceled due to public voting, a voter insulted members of the polling committee and tried to attack them physically.

Non-governmental organizations claimed that voters took pictures of ballot papers in several places. For example, in Pljevlja, a violation of the secrecy of voting was recorded when a man and a woman voted together behind a screen and took pictures of their ballots. The Electoral Board did not react, and did not invalidate these ballots.

At one polling station in Nikšić, as announced by CeMi, the polling board allowed a uniformed person (a firefighter-rescuer) to vote, although the law stipulates that "a member of the police and another uniformed person are not allowed access to the polling station while voting is in progress".

542.154 citizens had the right to vote in the elections. The most voters are in Podgorica - 143.608, and the least in Šavnik - 1.777.

The prosecutor ordered checks on allegations of vote buying in Bijelo Polje

Irfan Hajrović from Bjelopol told "Vijesta" that he and his mother EB were injured in the incident, who allegedly fell unconscious as a result of being pushed. He said that his mother was then transported to the hospital in Bijelo Polje.

Hajrović claims that Esad Alilović, Mitko Bećirović and Refik Bećirović hit him several times. He said that Farko Alilović was handing out money to citizens in front of the polling station in a jeep with Tivat plates, that his brother Esad was at the polling station, and that Ensar Omerović, director of the "Tisa" Day Care Center, was sometimes in the vehicle.

He claims that his sisters IH and SH, who came from Budva, were promised 300 euros each. "They called them 300 times last night. I went to pick them up, as they promised to give them 300 euros each for travel expenses for the rest, however, they did not receive the money. They offered my father 300 euros, but they didn't give it to them. They wanted to give them 50 euros each and some nothing, because supposedly there will be money in the second round. Some of the citizens got confused, some took 50, some 30 euros, all this happened in the car and in front of it. I demanded that everyone be given the same or not be given to anyone. We vote even without money. So, of the seven members, my father Ismet Hajrović was the only one who received 300 euros, because he was the first to get into that vehicle, and the rest of us didn't get anything," claims Irfan Hajrović.

When asked if he was aware that illegal actions were involved, Hajrović said "he is aware that he was deceived and that illegal actions were involved".

Esko Alilović told "Vijesta" that he did not leave the polling station at all. He pointed out that his brother Farko Alilović did not get into his vehicle either, and that the key to the vehicle was with him the whole time. "Vijesti" was told in the Bjelopolje prosecutor's office that the prosecutor ordered the collection of additional information about the incident and that Hajrović filed a complaint.

Mugoša: Provisional results on Tuesday

SEC President Nikola Mugoša announced last night that data was not collected from all polling stations in Podgorica. "The SEC will announce the results by 12 o'clock from the closing of the polling stations," said Mugoša.

He emphasized that the election day passed relatively peacefully and in a democratic atmosphere, and that no major problems were formally reported to the SEC. In a live appearance on CDT's YouTube channel, he said that the deadline for polling committees to submit reports and records from polling stations to municipal election commissions is 12 hours after the polls close. "After that, the MEC determines the results in the territory of their municipality within 12 hours, and after that the SEC has the same deadline to determine the provisional election results," he said.

Mugoša added that "the legal deadline is Tuesday at eight o'clock", but that he hopes it will be earlier.

Bečić: Free elections, like in Western democracies

The leader of the Democrats, Aleksa Bečić, said that yesterday's elections looked like they were held in one of the countries of Western democracy and that this was a good message that was sent yesterday.

"If we got anything on August 30, it was a free election process," Becic said last night.

DPS President Milo Đukanović also expressed his satisfaction that, as he said, the state once again confirmed its very good democratic capacity. "The elections took place in a peaceful atmosphere, in which people could freely express their will," he said.