OSCE Croatia mission fears proposed election changes could penalize minority voters

ZAGREB, 11 March 2005 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia is concerned that proposed electoral legislation changes, forwarded to Parliament under a "fast-track" procedure, could seriously restrict the exercise of voting rights of many citizens.

The Mission is recommending that the same registration rules should be used as in the last local election and that any reforms should be based on a broad consensus among political and civil society actors after public debate.

The proposals, included in the Draft Amendments to the Law on the Election of Members of Representative Bodies of Local and Regional Self-Government Unit, could disenfranchise many voters who temporarily work or live away from their permanent residence. Refugees, a particularly vulnerable voter category, are likely to be disproportionately affected.

The Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Peter Semneby, said that displaced Croatian Serbs involuntarily living outside Croatia must be able to vote.

"In the present circumstances, many are still not able to actually live where they have their permanent registered residence," he said.

"In particular, the draft proposal does not specify how the authorities would check if citizens actually live where they have their permanent residence. These stringent residency requirements introduce possibilities for arbitrary administrative action. I would be particularly concerned if such controls were to be undertaken by door-to-door police checks."

Ambassador Semneby also warned against the introduction of property-related eligibility criteria for refugees and displaced persons which could unfairly exclude many voters.

While some positive developments in electoral legislation have taken place, a substantial amount of work is still needed in several other key areas, as outlined in a series of recommendations by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) following the monitoring of presidential and parliamentary elections in Croatia between 1997 and 2003.

ODIHR recommended that reforms should focus on: the establishment of a permanent body to administer elections; update of voters' lists; organisation of out-of-country voting; clear election procedures for minorities at local and Councils of National Minorities elections; regulation of campaign funding; fair media access; and the domestic monitoring of elections.

The OSCE Mission is ready to provide the Croatian authorities with all necessary assistance, in particular through opinions and recommendations from experts from ODIHR and the Venice Commission (Council of Europe).