The election silence in the country is being violated as if there is no legal ban on political activities by parties and candidates. This is the first conclusion from CIVIL’s election monitoring at the beginning of the first online press conference held at 11 a.m. today.

“Violation of the election silence throughout the country. So far, reports of violations of the election silence have been processed in Shuto Orizari, Centar, Demir Kapija, Kumanovo, Kichevo, Brvenica, Struga and Bogovinje,” said the president of CIVIL, Jabir Deralla, at the press conference.

CIVIL also shared the information that they had received reports with allegations of election bribery in Shuto Orizari and Demir Kapija, but those reports have not been verified by a neutral source or by CIVIL observers.

Furthermore, the organization announced that observers reported various forms of pressure in Kocani, Struga and Krusevo on Saturday, during the election silence. These reports will be further verified and will be part of the comprehensive election monitoring report.

According to the CIVIL analytical team, the municipalities of Shuto Orizari and Brvenica were the focus of news reports on Saturday. Some media outlets blurred faces and logos, in an attempt to follow the principles of reporting during the election silence. However, some media outlets presented these events in their entirety, even live, which may represent an unintentional (or intentional) multiplication of propaganda narratives, i.e., a violation of the election silence.

CIVIL long-term observers also reported nationalistic outbursts at the football match held on Saturday in Prilep. Although this does not have a direct electoral context, such incidents contribute to creating a negative atmosphere in the run-up to election day.

Unlike the election day of the first round of local elections, today began with positive interaction between election boards and CIVIL observers.

At IM 2614/1, in the Primary School “Bratstvo”, in Karposh, when asked by the CIVIL observer why the members of the EB did not have badges, they reported them to the MEC, after which new ones were immediately brought to them. After this, the same thing happened in other polling stations in that school.

In a polling station in the ARM  in the Skopje Center, the members of the election board complained to the CIVIL observer that they were cold and asked for this to be published. CIVIL representatives appealed to the press to the election administration to ensure that heating is provided for all polling stations.

The press also reviewed the report according to which two headquarters of a political party were opened in the Chento settlement, Gazi Baba municipality. CIVIL clarified that the opening of election headquarters is not prohibited, as long as no open campaigning or other illegal activities are carried out in them, such as pressure, voter registration, or electoral bribery.