![\"zgjedhje-ne-kosove\"](\"http:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/zgjedhje-ne-kosove.jpg\")
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In a re-vote in three polling centres in mainly Serbian northern Kosovo, locals will again try to choose their mayors after violence marred the November 3 vote.<\/p>\n
Polls opened at 7am Sunday in three polling centres in the divided northern half of the town of Mitrovica in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo.<\/p>\n
Some 2,000 people have already cast their vote by noon, from a total of 23,000 voters. No incidents or irregularities have been reported.<\/p>\n
The votes are another phase in the first local elections organized by Kosovo government taking place also in the north.<\/p>\n
The candidates are Oliver Ivanovic, former state secretary in the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo, Krstimir Pantic of the Serbian government-backed list “Srpska”, Adrijana Hodzic, who is running as an independent, Agim Deva of the Kosovo Democratic Party and Dimitrije Janicijevic of the Independent Liberal Party.<\/p>\n
The repeat vote comes after unknown assailants attacked three polling stations in northern Mitrovica on November 3, causing several to close early.<\/p>\n
Citing security threats, the OSCE withdrew its staff from the attacked polling centres on November 3, but on Sunday it will send some 60 members back for the repeat vote.<\/p>\n
This time, the Central Election Commission in Kosovo, CEC, said all necessary preparations had been made so the process runs smoothly.<\/p>\n
Kosovo police are also on the alert for troublemakers trying to disrupt the repeat round of local elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the elections on November 17 will only be held in three polling centers, enough police will be on the ground,\u201d Baki Kelani, Kosovo Police spokesperson assured Balkan Insight.<\/p>\n
BIRN has learned from sources in the north that members of the Belgrade-backed list have scheduled a rally for noon, urging everyone who works in the state administration in Mitrovica to show up with their families and then together go to vote.<\/p>\n
“Those who do not show up will face layoffs, they were told,” the source told BIRN.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Serbs opposed to the elections have issued a guide on how to boycott the repeated vote. According to the guide, people should turn off their mobile phones and not leave their homes on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The outcome of the election in the north is considered a crucial element of the EU-brokered deal in April on normalizing relations between Pristina and Belgrade.<\/p>\n
Candidates of the \u201cSrpska\u201d list gained most votes from the 7,856 ballots cast in Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok on November 3.<\/p>\n
Candidates of \u201cSrpska\u201d will thus become mayor in all three mainly Serbian municipalities.<\/p>\n
Kosovo last held local elections in 2009. However, encouraged by the government in Serbia, most people in the north ignored them.\/balkaninsight\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a re-vote in three polling centres in mainly Serbian northern Kosovo, locals will again try to choose their mayors after violence marred the November 3 vote. Polls opened at 7am Sunday in three polling centres in the divided northern half of the town of Mitrovica in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo. Some 2,000 people have already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16","tag-serbs-in-north-kosovo-head-for-polls-again"],"views":984,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions\/488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}