For a long time, there has been a low level of citizens' trust in the electoral process, and the fact that almost half of the citizens believe that voters vote for a certain political party because of the money or other benefits that that party offers them is one of the consequences of this situation, said a professor at the University "Donja Gorica" Nikoleta Djukanovic.
"Certainly the poor living standards of citizens, the difficult economic situation, the inability of institutions to fight corruption, but also the politicians and power holders themselves, who created such a situation, contribute to this," she told "Vijesti".
Every second citizen believes that people are blackmailed into voting in a certain way, and more than half of them believe that voters are paid to vote for someone, according to a survey conducted for the needs of the Montenegrin National Election Study (MNES) on a sample of 1.200 respondents.
Đukanović recalled the statement of former Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, who publicly called on citizens to take the money offered by the parties and to vote according to their will, and that he "neither felt nor bore any responsibility for calling citizens to engage in corrupt practices." "Then it is not surprising that such a percentage of citizens believe that voters vote with a certain monetary compensation, or some other benefit, and not according to their will and preferences," she said.
During the three-decade rule of the Democratic Party of Socialists, several scandals broke out in which party officials were accused of bribing voters, party employment, illegal party financing, etc.
"The previous government in Montenegro (DPS), which ruled for more than two decades, survived precisely thanks to the buying of votes and the intimidation of voters," announced the Socialist People's Party (SNP). "Buying votes is an action that is punishable, but it is an open secret that it exists."
The SNP claims that it has its loyal voters, and thanks to them "it has been on the political scene for more than a quarter of a century".
"We have never engaged in blackmail and buying votes, because that would show impotence and the absence of democratic norms," they said.
Questions to comment on the results of the research, whether their party ever offered money or blackmailed for votes, but also whether they suspected that other parties did this, were addressed to the Europe Now Movement, the Democrats, the New Serbian Democracy, the Democratic People's Party, the Bosniak Party, DPS and the Social Democrats, but they did not provide an answer to "Vijesti".
Đukanović believes that "we can observe a longer continuity of such a situation, especially when we talk about political parties that do not elect, even illegal means to reach voters".
"Without any moral or legal framework, without any responsibility, such behavior goes unpunished and it only further collapses democracy and the aspiration for fair and free elections, as well as citizens' trust in the electoral process and the institutions that implement that process," she points out.
At the presentation of the MNES the day before yesterday, it was said that it is part of the comparative study of electoral systems (CSES), which is being carried out in a large number of countries.
"This research will be part of a global database, so researchers interested in these issues will be able to compare findings from several countries," said the president of CEMI's Board of Directors. Zlatko Vujović and announced that the findings of the study will be presented to the Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reform.
Principal investigator of the study Oliver Komar she said that the research is based on citizens' perceptions. "However, when it comes to the electoral process, perceptions are very easily translated into reality because if an individual expects to be punished at work or somewhere else, he will adjust his behavior to that expectation."
When asked whether the votes are counted fairly, slightly more than a fifth of the respondents expressed doubt about that claim, 27,4 percent of them answered that it happens sometimes, and about two fifths that it happens all the time or often.
Similar answers were given to the question of whether opposition candidates and parties are prevented from running, where about a fifth of the surveyed citizens said that it happens all the time or often, 30,3 percent that it sometimes happens, and 37,7 percent that mostly or never happens.
Slightly more than half of citizens believe that voters are paid to vote for someone, a quarter that this happens sometimes, and 16,8 percent that it mostly or never happens.
Every other respondent thinks that people are blackmailed into voting in a certain way, a fifth thinks that it is mostly or never the case, and a little more than a quarter that it sometimes happens.
About a third believe that election officials are mostly or often impartial, slightly less believe that this sometimes happens. On the other hand, 29,3 percent believe that this phenomenon usually or never happens.
Based on these results, the electoral integrity index was calculated, which in the range of one to five in Montenegro is 2,97.
Every second respondent believes that the last parliamentary elections were conducted fairly, and approximately the same number have confidence in the State Election Commission.
"One employee, four votes"
The thirty-year rule of the DPS was marked, among other things, by affairs. Recruitment before the elections, pressure on public sector employees and abuse of social benefits are just some of the accusations that votes were collected in this way.
Before the parliamentary elections in 2012, at the session of that party, the director of the Employment Agency at the time, Zoran Jelić, said that "if they help a man get a job, he will get four votes for DPS" and added that "investing in active employment measures is not an expense but an investment." . A year later, MPs from Positive Montenegro released audio recordings from that session, and after that, several recordings from several municipalities about the alleged buying of votes for DPS were later released to the public.
Audio recordings have also been released to the public, in which the DPS activist from Podgorica's Local Community Zagorič Dušica Vulić explains to potential candidates how to be eligible to become professional soldiers. For that, as she explained, "recognition on the ground" is necessary - for the candidate to declare himself Montenegrin and to show sympathy for the ruling party, that is, to promise to vote for it.
In 2020, "Vijesti" revealed that the DPS has access to data on citizens that are not available to other parties through the voter list, and that in the database that contains this data, they assess whether citizens will vote for them. An extract from the database for two polling stations in Škaljari reveals that DPS, in addition to accessing data from the voter list, also contains personal data that should not be available to parties, and otherwise can be found in the Central Population Register of the Ministry of the Interior.
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