[ Montenegro ]

The struggle over the results of the referendum in Montenegro has not ended yet. According to Vijesti, there will be no official results before Sunday, as the "unionists" had lodged complaints on irregularities in the voters' list in more than 100 polling stations and are asking for the repeat of the vote in some of these polling stations. The Republican Referendum Commission is still examining some of these complaints.

The results announced by the international president of the referendum commission, Frantisek Lipka, on Tuesday, were: 55,4% votes for the independence of Montenegro, 44,6% against, while the turnout was 86,3%. The conditions for the pro-independence block to succeed were 55% of the votes with a turnout of more than 50%.

The observation missions of the OSCE/ODIHR and of the European Parliament confirmed that the referendum was held in line with international standards, although there were small irregularities - cf. the OSCE/ODIHR press release from May 22nd:

Election Day was calm, with more than 96% of observers characterizing the vote positively. Some procedural problems were identified with the application of ink on voters' fingers, as well as a number of instances of group voting and of voters taking photographs of their marked ballot papers. Observers assessed the count and tabulation of votes positively. In two isolated instances, observers reported suspicious activities that may have indicated vote-buying schemes.

The campaign was competitive although there were instances of negative campaigning. The Republican Referendum Commission operated in a transparent manner and both referendum options displayed a commitment to participate in its administration. There was active involvement of civil society, particularly domestic observers.

Access to media was afforded to both options although some partiality was noted, mainly in print media. All in all, media provided voters with diverse views and enabled them to make informed choices. There was no direct campaigning in the media during the pre-referendum silence period, but many instances of indirect support of independence were noted.

On the webpage of the OSCE/ODIHR Montenegro Referendum Observation Mission you will find more information and a preliminary report.

Cf. also Florian Bieber's impressions of his election observation and the FAQ pages of the BBC and the NY times.

Map source: FAZ, 19.5.2006