Enhancing Accountability and Responsiveness of Elected Officials in Serbia (People First)

The proposal aimed to enhance accountability and responsiveness of elected officials in Serbia. The main purpose of the proposal was to address the challenges faced by the electoral administration in Serbia, including inconsistent legislation, inadequate institutional framework, and lack of professional electoral administration. The electoral administration in Serbia is currently fragmented, with multiple institutions responsible for different aspects of the electoral process. The National Electoral Commission (RIK), polling boards, and municipal/city electoral commissions are the main electoral bodies in Serbia. However, these bodies are not professional and are often composed of individuals who are not trained or qualified to perform their duties. The RIK's powers are limited to the organization and implementation of elections, and it does not have the authority to regulate communications at election time, party political finance, or the electoral register. The proposal identified several key challenges facing the electoral administration in Serbia, including the transient character of electoral administration, the inability of electoral authorities to act on their own initiative, and the limited capacity to appoint core and non-core members of polling boards and electoral commissions. The proposal recommended the establishment of a professional electoral administration, which would be responsible for all aspects of the electoral process. The members of the central electoral authority would serve terms of office longer than one electoral cycle, and would be shielded from the impact of changes in government and election results. The proposal also recommended broadening the powers of the electoral administration to comprise not only narrowly technical electoral issues, but rather the entire electoral process, including regulation of communications at election time, party political finance, and the electoral register. This would prevent mistakes that occur due to the lack of co-ordination between various bodies that now deal with individual aspects of the electoral process. The proposal suggested that the electoral administration should be governed by a law that would establish clear criteria for employment, based on the experiences of well-regulated electoral administrations from other jurisdictions. The law would also exclude individuals who have been convicted of actions constituting infringements of electoral rights, as well as officers or employees of executive authorities. Public administration employees at the national or municipal level could serve as members of municipal/city electoral commissions or polling boards, and would be tasked with particular aspects of the electoral process between two rounds of elections. The proposal aimed to introduce a professional electoral administration in Serbia, which would be responsible for all aspects of the electoral process. The establishment of a professional electoral administration would enhance accountability and responsiveness of elected officials in Serbia, and would contribute to the development of a more democratic and transparent electoral process.