Conflicting opinions about the local election by international observers
The international monitors observing the local elections in the Republic
of Macedonia gave somewhat conflicting opinions about their fairness.
The 12 members of the delegation
of the Council of Europe reported immediately after the elections that
they encountered problems with electoral lists "in almost all of the polling
stations they visited". As a result, they estimated as much as 25% of the
eligible voters could not cast their ballots. Despite that, they
concluded on November 20 that the elections were "essentially fair and orderly".
although the registration problems "may have affected the results of the elections in some local
authorities". The unofficial results (which did not take
into account the opposition appeals alleging fraud as a result of the
problems with the electoral lists) indicate that there will be
a second round on December 1 for most of the counsils.
The conclusion of the Council of Europe mission conflicted with the
opinion of the OSCE delegation. The latter saw no proof of any
problems which could have affected the outcome of the election.
