300,000 Fewer Voters in the Next Elections

With the new Law on the Voter Register, the number of voters in the Republic of Croatia will be between 3.7 and 3.8 million, which is much more realistic compared to the current number of 4.1 million voters, said Minister of Administration Arsen Bauk, urging representatives in the Croatian Parliament to support the final version of the said law.

According to the proposed legal solution, there will be two records: the voter register and the voter list. The register is an electronic database of voters who have the right to vote and is maintained ex officio through three records – the record of voters residing in the Republic of Croatia, the record of voters without such residence, and the record of voters who are citizens of EU member states. In content and meaning, it would correspond to the current voter list.

The voter list becomes an ‘ad hoc list’ that is established for each election and would include voters from the register, but only those who meet the legally prescribed conditions – they must have a valid ID card or have taken at least one action that includes them in the voter list (temporary registration or prior registration).

Minister Bauk emphasized that the law defines that the address data of the voter register is based on the register of spatial units, and the same register is the basis for the residence records of the Ministry of the Interior. The possibility of deleting voters from the residence records in the Republic of Croatia and transferring them to the record of those without residence in the Republic of Croatia is also provided.

Croatian citizens without residence in Croatia, if they wish to vote in the elections, will have to actively register at diplomatic and consular missions abroad or at the competent state administration office if they want to vote in Croatia. Active registration would be conducted for each election. In addition to active registration, prior registration is also provided for Croatian citizens residing in Croatia who wish to vote abroad, and temporary registration for those who wish to vote outside their place of residence.

For Croatian citizens who do not have residence in the Republic of Croatia, we have introduced the institute of active registration as a prerequisite for introducing postal voting for the Croatian Parliament in one of the upcoming elections, as voting for Croatian citizens without residence in Croatia is significantly complicated due to constitutional provisions, emphasized Bauk.

In relation to the first reading of the law, at the request of the Ombudsman for Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, and a larger number of parliamentary representatives, the law also stipulates the voting rights of persons whose legal capacity has been revoked. The possibility of voting in social welfare institutions has also been defined, and the proposal of the Croatian Labourists has been accepted that all participants in the electoral process can obtain address data and names of voters.
The deadlines for insight into the voter register have been extended, with the possibility for all citizens to view the address data of voters in the office up to ten days before the elections.

The law also defines extracts from the voter list when elections are held based on national affiliation – members of national minorities are indicated on the general extract for all elections that are not special based on national affiliation.