Following the announcement of a snap parliamentary election scheduled for October 25, 2026, a call began circulating on social media urging Serbian citizens living abroad to register so that organizers could “keep a record of the number of interested voters in each city.”
The appeal, shared on LinkedIn by the informal activist group Palac Gore, links to a page entitled “Voting from Abroad?” on the website studenti.org.rs. The page contains a guide to voting from abroad, as well as a separate section headed “Registration for Polling Stations in the Diaspora.”
“Register. Share this information. Encourage people in your city to do the same,” the website states. Those registering are asked to provide their full name, city of residence and confirmation that they hold a valid identity document. 
This, however, is not an official application to vote abroad.
Official Applications Must Be Submitted Through a Serbian Embassy or Consulate
The right to vote abroad is exercised through a procedure established by law. A voter must first be entered in Serbia’s Unified Electoral Register, which can be checked through the official portal of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.
Once an election has been called, every citizen wishing to vote abroad must submit an individual application to the relevant Serbian diplomatic or consular mission. The application contains the information required by the competent municipal or city authority to issue a decision and record in the Unified Electoral Register that the citizen will vote abroad.
Serbian embassies and consulates publish the relevant instructions, deadlines, forms and addresses to which applications must be sent. Applications are not submitted collectively through political movements, activist groups or private Google Forms.
Polling stations abroad are designated by the Republic Electoral Commission, acting on a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under the rules governing their establishment, a polling station should, wherever possible, serve at least 100 voters. With the Commission’s approval, a polling station may be established for fewer voters where distance or geographical conditions would make travel to another location particularly difficult.
The number of people who complete a privately administered form is therefore not the same as the number of voters who have officially applied to vote abroad.
One Form and Dozens of Unofficial Email Addresses
For many cities, the website directs users to the same Google Form, which asks for the respondent’s city, country and full name, as well as whether they hold a valid Serbian identity card or passport.
For many other locations, however, separate Gmail, Yahoo, Proton and other email addresses are provided. Chicago residents, for example, are directed to studenti.cikago@yahoo.com, while those in Washington are referred to washingtondcuzstudente@gmail.com. For Brussels, the address used belongs to the organization “Palac Gore”.
The data are therefore being collected through different channels—either through the shared form or through one of numerous separate email accounts. The website does not identify the people who manage these accounts or explain what authority they have to handle the information. Nor does it state whether the data are subsequently consolidated and forwarded to Studenti u blokadi (“Students in Blockade”), which is identified as the organizer.
Who Is Legally Responsible for the Data?
The privacy notice identifies Studenti u blokadi as the organizer and provides the email address studentiublokadidijaspora@gmail.com. However, the name of an informal movement and a Gmail address do not reveal who is specifically responsible for collecting, storing and using the data.
Neither the name and address of a legal entity nor the identity of a responsible individual is provided. The website also does not explain who decides how the information may be used, how long it will be retained, to whom it may be disclosed or how it will be deleted from the various email accounts. Nor does it state whether the data are transferred to or processed outside Serbia. Citizens are also not informed of their right to lodge a complaint with Serbia’s Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.
Serbia’s Law on Personal Data Protection provides that when personal data are collected directly from an individual, that person must receive clear information about the identity and contact details of the data controller, the purpose and legal basis of the processing, the recipients of the data, the retention period and their rights.
Without this information, citizens cannot reliably determine who controls their data or whom they should contact if those data are lost, misused or disclosed without authorization.
The Data Also Have a Political Context
A person’s name, city and possession of a Serbian passport do not, in themselves, reveal how that person intends to vote. However, these data are being collected through the website of a political movement that presents itself as an electoral contender and concludes the page with the message: “We came to you. Now, together, we must make it to victory.”
Participation in such a database could therefore allow inferences to be drawn about an individual’s political views or leanings. Data revealing political opinions receive special protection under both Serbian law and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
This does not necessarily mean that collecting the data is unlawful in itself. It does mean that transparency, a clearly defined legal basis, strict purpose limitation and access controls must meet a higher standard than those applying to an ordinary contact list.
An Unofficial List Cannot Establish a Polling Station
There is nothing inherently improper about organizing citizens or providing information about an election. Groups may encourage people to check their voter registration, publish consular contact details and assess interest in voting in particular cities.
The problem arises if an unofficial registration process is presented in a way that could lead citizens to believe that completing it constitutes an official step toward exercising their right to vote.
A privately administered Google Form does not replace an application submitted through a Serbian diplomatic or consular mission. Sending a message to a local activist group does not register a citizen to vote abroad. Nor can any non-governmental organization or political movement establish a polling station on its own.
Serbian embassies and consulates process individual applications, while the Republic Electoral Commission determines polling locations on the basis of information obtained through the official procedure.
It is therefore legitimate to ask why an additional database containing citizens’ names is being compiled when the number of voters who have actually applied to vote abroad is determined through Serbia’s diplomatic and consular missions.
Political mobilization is a legitimate activity. Collecting personal data without clearly established accountability is not a matter of political preference, but of every citizen’s right to know who controls their information and how it will be used.
Photo: ChatGPT
