Novi Sad Vote-Buying Arrests Expose Competing Claims Over the Ballot

Novi Sad Vote-Buying Arrests Expose Competing Claims Over the Ballot
Four people were arrested in Novi Sad after prosecutors said they uncovered an alleged scheme to exchange money for votes in the parliamentary election held on October 25. The suspects—identified by their initials as K.A., K.B., T.J. and M.Đ.—are accused of giving or receiving bribes connected to voting.

According to the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office, K.A. allegedly received 30,000 dinars from M.Đ. He is suspected of keeping 6,000 dinars for himself after voting for electoral list number 1, then paying K.B. and T.J. 6,000 dinars each in cash on November 1 for casting their ballots for the same list.

K.A., K.B. and T.J. were questioned by the Special Department for Combating Corruption and “fully confessed” to the offense, according to the prosecution. M.Đ. was placed in custody for up to 48 hours pending questioning.

The reports reflect different political framings of the alleged transaction. An opposition-aligned account described the payment as compensation for voting for SNS, while another report identified the list as “United Serbia.” The prosecutor’s formal statement, however, referred only to “list number 1.”

The investigation began after reported irregularities and was conducted under an instruction issued by the Supreme Public Prosecutor. Prosecutors said they would continue collecting evidence and take further legal steps before deciding on the case, with additional information to be released later.