The non-governmental election monitoring organisation GONG reported a large number of violations of the electioneering ban by political parties and independent candidates during local elections in Croatia on Sunday.
ZAGREB, May 17 (Hina) - The non-governmental election monitoring organisation GONG reported a large number of violations of the electioneering ban by political parties and independent candidates during local elections in Croatia on Sunday.
Violations included the distribution of promotion material and sending of text messages to voters and campaigning outside or in close vicinity to polling stations, mainly by activists of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and present mayors or municipal heads, which in some places created a tense atmosphere and could affect the results of voting, GONG said in a statement after the closure of polling stations at 7 pm.
GONG also cited cases of harassment of its activists by members of voting committees.
This shows that there are serious suspicions that in some areas attempts are being made to come to power by violating the law, GONG said.
The organisation's report was based on reports from 700 GONG observers, including 92 observers in 46 mobile teams who had visited 416 polling stations throughout the country by 6 pm.