Establish electronic service for citizens to update voter register (RS0047)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? According to the current regulations, citizens submit a request for a change in the Unified Voters' List to the competent municipal or city administration according to the place of residence, i.e. the ministry in charge of administrative affairs when it is responsible for changes in the voter register (from the conclusion of the voter register to 72 hours before election day), by regular mail or in person, at the office of the competent authority. On the other hand, decisions on changes in the voter register are delivered to citizens in the same ways, i.e. by regular mail or in person. Such ways of submitting requests and receiving decisions on changes in the voter register need to be made more efficient, faster and more modern, while spending as little time and resources as possible for citizens.

What is the commitment? The commitment implies the establishment of a new eService that will enable all registered users of the eGovernment Portal to submit a request for a change in the voter register to the competent authority through their user account, as well as to be provided with a decision on changes in the voter register. 35 The realization of this commitment will significantly improve the existing way of performing these activities, with significantly less time and resources, both for citizens and the administration.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The first step in the implementation of this commitment implies the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Seal of State and Other Bodies, which will introduce the electronic seal of the MPALSG, as well as the local self-government units entrusted with updating the voter list. This will enable them to make decisions in the form of an electronic document in the system of the Unified Voters' List in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Electronic Document, Electronic Identification and Trust Services in Electronic Business ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 94/17). The next step involves connecting the eGovernment Portal and the Unified Voters' List system, in order to create a link between these two systems and enable citizens to submit requests for changes in the voter list through orders on this portal, i.e. submitting decisions on changes in the same way, via an email service. In this way, the improvement of citizens' rights, that is an easier, more efficient and faster realization of citizens' rights will be ensured, as well as the efficiency and economy of the procedure, because the citizen will be electronically informed about the status of the submitted request for a change in the voter register.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The commitment is relevant in relation to public accountability given that it encompasses the efforts of public authorities towards more efficient provision of public services to citizens. Also, the its implementation contributes to more efficient management of an accurate and complete voter list by the competent state bodies, at the same time showing the existence of awareness and responsibility for its accurate and timely updating. Bearing in mind that the implementation of the commitment will enable the electronic provision of services by the competent authorities through the eGovernment Portal, the commitment is also relevant in relation to the use of innovations and technologies. Finally, the commitment also contains elements of citizen participation, given that registration for the voter register with accurate data is a prerequisite for citizen participation in the electoral processes, and the implementation of this obligation improves the existing mechanisms for fulfilling this condition.

Additional information Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable Start date End date 36 1. Adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Seal of State and Other Bodies II quarter of 2021 III quarter of 2021 2. Development of an electronic seal to the competent authorities (MPALSG and local selfgovernment units) III quarter of 2021 IV quarter of 2021 3. Implementation of the electronic seal in the Unified Voters Register system IV quarter of 2021 IV quarter of 2021 4. Connecting the eGovernment Portal and the Unified Voters' List system IV quarter of 2021 IV quarter of 2021

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5: Electronic Voter Registration

Results Report

Commitment 5. Electronic voter registration

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? No

● Potential for results: Modest

● Completion: Limited

● Did it open government? No early results to report yet

Out of four activities, one was fully completed. Specifically, the amendments to the Law on the Seal of Public Institutions were adopted, which introduced a digital seal for citizens to submit changes to voter registration. [37] The second activity - creating the digital seal for all public institutions and 174 local self-government units - was partially implemented, since only a small number created the digital seal. [38] This was voluminous work, as the digital seal must be created for each unit of local self-government separately and requires the assistance of other institutions, such as the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment. The COVID-19 pandemic, inter-party dialogue, and a referendum on constitutional amendments, as well as local, parliamentary, and presidential elections, slowed the implementation of this activity. [39]

The other two activities - the implementation of an electronic seal in the Unified Voters Register and connecting the eGovernment portal with the Unified Voter’s List - did not start because the elections in 2022 (local, parliamentary, and presidential), as well as elections for minority councils, effectively prevented work on the voter list. According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the service is expected to be completed by the end of June 2023. [40] Citizens will be able to check their data in the voter list on the e-Government Portal and submit a request to change or supplement them through the portal (rather than having to go in person to the municipal administration).