Video on “Avoiding Blackmail” and Misleading Advice: When Is a Ballot Paper Valid?

• The law explicitly states that a ballot paper is invalid if the numbers corresponding to two or more electoral lists have been circled. However, it does not guarantee that a ballot paper subsequently altered in the manner described in the post — by crossing out the previously circled list and all the other lists, then writing the name of the preferred list at the bottom — will be accepted as valid.
• Photographing a ballot paper is prohibited and constitutes a violation of the law. A situation in which voters are handed ballot papers that already have a number circled points to a serious criminal offence and an electoral irregularity.
• The social media posts are misleading.

In the disputed social media post, the narrator explains “how to avoid blackmail” in the upcoming early parliamentary elections in Serbia, scheduled for 25 October 2026:

“The most common example is when voters are required to photograph their vote for a particular list. You can easily do that: take a photograph, send proof, no problem, and then cross it all out and circle whoever you actually want to vote for.

“What matters is that it must be possible to determine unambiguously whom you are voting for. So you can even write ‘I vote for number 3’, and that is equally legitimate, as long as it is absolutely clear whom you actually intended to vote for.

“Now, another seemingly hopeless situation is when they give you a ballot paper that already has a number circled. That is just as easy to resolve: cross that one out too and write at the bottom, in words, ‘I vote for number 3’.

“So it is very simple: as long as the electoral board can unambiguously determine which list you intended to vote for, you have no problem.”

 

 

What Does the Law Say About Crossing Out a Circled List and Writing in Another?

According to Article 103 of the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, Nos. 14/2022 and 47/2026):

“An invalid ballot paper is one that has not been completed, one on which the numbers corresponding to two or more electoral lists have been circled, or any other ballot paper completed in such a way that it is not possible to reliably determine which electoral list the voter voted for.

“A valid ballot paper is one on which the number corresponding to one electoral list has been circled, as well as a ballot paper completed in such a way that it can be determined with certainty whom the voter voted for.”

In other words, the law states that a ballot paper is invalid if the numbers corresponding to two or more electoral lists have been circled, because in such cases it is impossible to reliably establish which list the voter intended to support.

However, the law does not guarantee that a ballot paper subsequently altered in the manner described in the social media post — by crossing out the previously circled list and all the other lists, then writing the name of the preferred list at the bottom — will be accepted as valid.

The website of CRTA, an organisation that has monitored elections since 2016, explains that a valid ballot paper is one completed in such a way that the voter’s choice can be determined with certainty.

Apart from the case in which a single number corresponding to an electoral list or candidate has been circled, a ballot paper is also valid if it has been completed in any of the following ways:

• The voter has circled or underlined the first and last name of a single candidate.
• The voter has circled or underlined the name or part of the name of a single electoral list.
• The voter has circled or underlined both the number corresponding to an electoral list and the name of that list, as well as the first and last name of the list’s leading candidate.
• The voter has circled or underlined the name of a single electoral list leader.
• The voter has crossed out one or more numbers or names of electoral lists and circled the number corresponding to a candidate or electoral list.

A ballot paper remains valid in all these cases even if comments, slogans or other messages have been written or drawn on it.

An invalid ballot paper is one that has not been completed, or one completed in such a way that it is impossible to determine clearly and unambiguously whom the voter voted for. If a voter circles more than one electoral list or candidate, or circles one list while underlining another, the ballot paper is invalid because the voter’s intention cannot be established, CRTA explains.

 

 

Photographing a Ballot Paper Is Prohibited and Constitutes a Violation of the Law

“Unauthorised recording or photographing of events at a polling station, photographing ballot papers, and any use of mobile phones or other communication devices are prohibited,” states the official website of the National Assembly of Serbia in its guidance on free and secret voting.

Photographing a ballot paper and using mobile phones or cameras behind the voting screen are strictly prohibited in order to protect the secrecy of the vote.

Requiring voters to photograph their ballot papers constitutes a form of pressure, voter control and blackmail, and is a criminal offence. The electoral board is obliged to prevent the use of mobile phones and cameras behind the voting screen, according to information provided by ZmAI, CRTA’s digital election assistant.

A situation in which voters are handed ballot papers that already have a number circled points to a serious criminal offence and an electoral irregularity known as “the Bulgarian train”, a method of electoral fraud described by CRTA.

The official website of the National Assembly of Serbia explicitly states that no one has the right, on any grounds, to prevent or compel a citizen to vote, hold them accountable for how they voted, or demand that they disclose whom they voted for or why they did not vote.

ZmAI is a digital election assistant developed by CRTA (the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability) to provide citizens, voters and election observers with accurate and verified information about electoral rules, laws, procedures and rights at polling stations.

Finally, it is important to remember that the electoral board is the only body authorised to determine whether a ballot paper is valid or invalid. Electoral board members are required to know the relevant legal provisions and make impartial decisions whenever there is any doubt about a ballot paper’s validity.