Political coercion in social welfare systems
According to the 2022 census, more than 356,000 people with disabilities in Serbia, or roughly 5.5 per cent of the population over the age of two, face significant hurdles to their political participation. Many of these individuals depend on state welfare, healthcare, and associations that provide help with access to assistive devices, education, training and employment. I find the recurring failure of election authorities to ensure voting privacy, such as not providing braille ballot papers for those with blindness or vision impairment, to be a significant barrier. International election observers have also cited the inaccessibility of polling stations for people with disabilities. In a 2023 report, the election watchdog CRTA identified networks of political influence within social welfare centres, where employees used social assistance to secure votes and participation in party activities. Monitoring of the 2023 elections also documented a case in which beneficiaries of social welfare support were denied that support for supporting an opposition party.
Coercion via funding and poverty
Out of twelve people interviewed by BIRN, five reported witnessing statements from association representatives that could be interpreted as pressure to vote for the SNS. A person from a disability organisation in southern Serbia said the recently appointed head of the organisation asked others within the organisation to pledge their votes for the ruling party and its candidate for prime minister, ex-President Aleksandar Vucic, to secure their political future. One witness saw the leader take people outside to ask for pledges of support, much like when a neighbor realized being pulled aside was a way to secure a vote for the ruling party. I find the threat of losing essential resources particularly predatory given that 2021 data from the Creative-educational centre shows over 70 per cent of families with people with disabilities live below the poverty line and only 13 per cent of people with disabilities are in work, leaving them highly susceptible to coercion. Because many of these organisations are dependent on funding from public coffers, a person from a Belgrade-based organisation says such pressure is commonplace because they receive threats that their funding will be cut if they do not comply.
