Voters cast verdict on Milosevic

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Voting is taking place across Yugoslavia as a crucial election campaign dogged by suspicion and tension reaches its climax.

Recent opinion polls indicate the incumbent president Slobodan Milosevic, who has been indicted for alleged war crimes by a United Nations tribunal, will be ousted by his closest rival, Vojislav Kostunica.

Kostunica, backed by a coalition of 18 parties, has been running about 10 percent ahead of Milosevic in recent surveys.

With NATO on high alert for possible violence sparked by the election, the polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Sunday and are due to close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).

QUOTE "I don't think elections like this were ever held anywhere, ever since the Stone Age." - Marko Blagojevic    IN-DEPTH Yugoslavia Decides 2000   • Overview   • The road ahead   • Key players   • Party profiles   • Shrinking of Yugoslavia   • Maps/At-a-glance    ON-AIR Yugoslavia coverage on CNN International   •  Watch CNN International throughout Sunday September 24 for complete coverage of the vote   •  Get post-election analysis on Yugoslavia at the Crossroads on Monday September 25 at 2000 GMT    VIDEO CNN's Alessio Vinci reports as voters go to the polls Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) According to CNN's David Ensor, U.S. officials are hoping Milosevic will be defeated Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Storm clouds brewing in Montenegro Kosovo: Tiny turnout as Serbs stay indoors     MESSAGE BOARD Peace in the Balkans     AUDIO CNN's Alessio Vinci on conflicting predictions 582Kb WAV sound   Yugoslav elections Number of voters: 7,861,327 Serbia has 7,417,197 voters Montenegro has 444,130. 40 members elected to federal parliament's upper chamber 138 members are elected to lower chamber There are 27 electoral units in Yugoslavia, including Kosovo Montenegro is one electoral unit

It is not clear when the official results will be announced, although the opposition says it expects to have reliable provisional results by midnight (2200 GMT).

Within hours of the voting starting, a local electoral monitoring organisation reported numerous irregularities, describing the polling as “a complete mess.”

Marko Blagojevic from the non-governmental Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) said opposition representatives on electoral commissions had been banned from several polling stations or barred from watching preparations for the vote.

Blagojevic said the most serious violation was that in many places officials could note which candidate was chosen, either as people voted or through the folded ballot paper as it was put in the box.

He said: "I don't think elections like this were ever held anywhere, ever since the Stone Age."

Up to 7.8 million voters must decide whether to keep Milosevic in power or opt for the opposition, which is pledging to end years of economic decline and political isolation.

Milosevic and his wife, Mirjana, joined a queue on Sunday lunchtime to cast their votes. Looking relaxed and confident, he waited in turn at the polling station in the Belgrade suburb of Dedinje.

U.S. President Bill Clinton has said the world must help strengthen the Serb opposition by not accepting a fraudulent Milosevic win, while U.S. officials have declared their unwillingness to accept anything but an opposition victory.

But Milosevic told state-run media that he expected the vote will bring "good for the country and our people."

He said: "I expect that the political scene in Serbia will be cleared up, which will create conditions for permanent stability and quick economic development.”

After he voted, Kostunica told reporters: "The regime is aware that it is losing these elections and that the people are free from fear to say what they think about such authorities."

In some places as many as five elections will take place at the same time -- for the presidency, the two houses of parliament and, in Serbia, for one, or in some areas two, local assemblies.

The government in Montenegro, which together with Serbia forms Yugoslavia, has refused to take part in the election and has called for a boycott by voters.

In Kosovo, which is under U.N. and NATO administration, voters can take part, although the majority ethnic Albanian community is also expected to boycott the election.

There are fears that Milosevic, who has ruled for 11 years, will not leave office even if he loses.

Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, a leading Milosevic ally, has said that under the constitution, the president was committed to serve out his full term, due to end in July 2001, whatever the outcome of the elections.

"Mr Milosevic has his mandate, for constitutional reasons, until the end of June," Bulatovic said after voting at a polling station set up at the Yugoslav defence ministry building in Podgorica, capital of Montenegro.

Asked if Milosevic would accept the election results, even if he lost, Bulatovic said: "There is no reason for him not to accept the results of the election."

To add to the tension, the pro-Milosevic Yugoslav government claimed on Saturday that opposition parties plan to declare victory and set up a rival administration in pro-Western Montenegro regardless of the outcome.

To counter alleged anti-Milosevic vote rigging, the government-run election commission announced that voters must show their marked ballots to electoral officials before placing them in the box.

"Foreign factors who conduct a subversive activity have prepared a sabotage plan," the commission said, claiming that opposition forces "have prepared a number of ballots" already marked with the names of opposition candidates.

The opposition denied any such plot and accused the Milosevic government of trying to intimidate voters.

Nevertheless, the claim could pave the way for the government to nullify the election if -- as polls indicate -- Milosevic loses.

It could also set the stage for a crackdown on Montenegro, whose president, Milo Djukanovic, opposes Milosevic, and where the local government has advocated a boycott of the elections.

Djukanovic has condemned the Yugoslav army's decision to guard polling stations in the republic, saying it was part of a scheme to rig the vote.

"You can judge for yourself to what extent we can talk of free and fair elections if the army is present at polling stations," he said.

In Kosovo, the U.N. sent out what it called mobile witnessing teams who intend to check the turnout to ensure that ballot-boxes cannot be "stuffed" with the votes of Kosovo Albanians who intend to boycott the poll.

In the capital, Pristina, British troops from the KFOR peacekeeping force brought sniffer dogs to check a heavily guarded polling station.

Yugoslavia refused to let EU officials monitor the balloting and severely limited the number of foreign journalists permitted in the country, while around 20 foreign reporters were ordered to leave Yugoslavia on Friday.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Yugoslavia votes amid mounting tension
September 24, 2000
NATO on alert for Yugoslav elections
September 23, 2000
Factfile: Yugoslav elections
September 23, 2000
Yugoslavia puts NATO leaders on trial
September 19, 2000
Yugoslav vote proves a challenge for the EU
September 22, 2000

Democratic Party of Yugoslavia
Movement for Democratic Serbia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
CNN In Depth report: Focus on Kosovo
NATO
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Government of Montenegro
KFOR Peacekeeping

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.