DRC: Election Commission finds five cases of criminal double voting in 11 October referendums

The State Election Commission officially confirmed the results of four referendums held on October 11, rejecting the sole formal objection filed against the process. The commission identified five instances of potential double voting, which have been referred to prosecution authorities for investigation. These findings were announced during a session where the body adopted the final minutes regarding one legislative referendum and three advisory votes. On the legislative referendum concerning amendments to the law on parliamentary inquiry, voters rejected the proposed changes. A majority of 474,950 voters, representing 51.36 percent, voted against the amendment, while 449,824 voters, or 48.64 percent, supported it. The required quorum was met, with participation reaching one fifth of all eligible voters, meaning the amendment will not take effect. In the advisory referendum regarding the abolition of the public broadcasting fee, the outcome was the narrowest of the day. Voters opposed the removal of the fee by a margin of just 2,900 votes. Specifically, 464,999 voters, or 50.16 percent, voted against abolition, compared to 462,099, or 49.84 percent, who voted in favor. Support for conditioning cash social assistance on community service work received the strongest mandate among the advisory questions. This proposal garnered 560,354 affirmative votes, equating to 60.48 percent, while 366,136 voters, or 39.52 percent, opposed it. Additionally, voters endorsed the removal of voting rights for citizens of third countries in local elections, a change that had already been codified in law. This measure passed with 511,588 votes in favor, or 55.23 percent, against 414,642 opposing votes, or 44.77 percent. Total turnout across all four referendums stood at 930,137 voters, representing 54.80 percent of the eligible electorate. Commission members addressed allegations of irregularities raised after preliminary results were published earlier this month. Marjan Jarkovic, a commission member nominated by the Freedom party, stated that the issues did not constitute falsification of results. He described them as errors associated primarily with manual data entry, noting that such mistakes are expected given the number of polling stations and committee members involved. He emphasized that these errors did not influence the final national outcomes. Peter Golob, president of the State Election Commission, told reporters that voters can trust the electoral process. He explained that the commission received only one official objection following the vote. The complainant was a voter from Ljubljana who attempted to cast a ballot at an "omnia" polling station in the city despite having a regular assigned polling station there. Because he was denied access to the specific station, he filed a complaint, which the commission subsequently dismissed. Golob detailed several technical errors discovered during verification, including swaps between "for" and "against" votes in the drafting of minutes. In three instances, polling stations recorded one more ballot box than the number of registered voters present. Furthermore, officials found five cases where individuals signed both the early voting registry and the list at an "omnia" polling station. Golob noted that while this could result from signing the wrong document, actual double voting constitutes a criminal offense. Consequently, these cases have been handed over to competent investigative bodies. District election commissions also reported minor discrepancies in counting and recording votes. In some cases, results were incorrectly tallied or written down. For three specific polling stations, where one extra ballot was found in the box relative to the voter count, the central commission allowed the system to reflect the results exactly as determined by the local polling boards. The commission stated that these corrections shifted the share of "for" votes by only 0.023 to 0.036 percentage points, leaving the overall outcomes unchanged. Igor Zorcich, director of the commission’s service department, disclosed that the body had received a letter from a police station inquiring about possible irregularities. Zorcich expressed doubt regarding the police's jurisdiction to conduct such checks before the official adoption of the results minutes, describing the inquiry as somewhat unusual under current legal frameworks. He observed a broader pattern in Europe involving accusations against independent state organs, contrasting the volume of public criticism with the single formal objection received by the commission. He concluded that the procedures were conducted in accordance with legal provisions and commission instructions, which include safeguards for accurate result determination. The five suspected cases of double voting occurred in specific electoral districts: Skofja Loka, Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica, Kranj, and Logatec. Officials confirmed that none of these incidents affected the final result of any of the referendums. The commission’s decision marks the end of the administrative phase of this electoral cycle, with the focus now shifting to potential criminal investigations into the individual cases of alleged duplicate ballots.