„Safe votes“ and jobs in the public sector

Category: Money and deals

Period: from Dec 2013

Since 2013, hiring in the public sector has required the approval of a government commission, and more and more people work on fixed-term and service contracts that have to be renewed. According to testimony from employees, unions, the opposition and NGOs, a job or a contract renewal is made conditional on working for SNS: collecting “safe” or “capillary” votes, attending rallies and campaigning. SNS says that all parties collect safe votes. None of the twenty-four cases has led to an indictment, even though ODIHR has recorded pressure on employees after every election since 2014.

Jobs for safe votes

Since December 2013, hiring in Serbia's public sector has required the approval of a government commission; more and more people work on fixed-term or service contracts that have to be renewed. According to testimony from employees, trade unions, the opposition and NGOs from 2017 to 2026, a job, a permanent contract or a contract renewal at public companies and institutions is made conditional on working for the SNS: gathering „safe“ or „capillary“ votes, going to rallies and campaigning.

The SNS says all parties collect safe votes; collecting them is not in itself a crime, but threatening voters and buying votes are.

ODIHR reports and testimony

ODIHR has recorded pressure on public sector employees after every election since 2014, and in 2024 it also cited „capillary voting“; pressure on voters employed in the public sector has also been noted in European Commission reports since 2017. In 2026, BIRN gathered testimony from about 180 people, most of them from the public sector.

The December 2023 and October 2026 elections are covered as separate affairs.

Complaints without indictments

None of the twenty-four cases has led to an indictment. In nineteen there is no data that proceedings were opened, and in two the prosecution dismissed the complaint: the Kraljevo Higher Public Prosecutor's Office dismissed the one about a call centre at the Centre for Social Work in Gornji Milanovac, and the Niš Higher Public Prosecutor's Office, according to BIRODI, dismissed the report on the case of Valentina Krstić, who was suspended and transferred to the Niš correctional facility after she criticised the hiring of Saša Stoiljković.

The proceedings over the 2023 SNS call centre have been sitting with the police for nearly three years. On 15 October 2026 the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime requested information after a former SNS activist described a phantom job at the public utility company “Lisje”, and on 4 November it ordered the police to check a complaint about capillary votes in prisons.

Party jobs in Niš

Igor Novaković, former director of „Jugoistok“ in Niš, said in 2015, according to N1, that he had hired several people at the request of SNS officials; the SNS in Niš said these were isolated cases.

According to Južne vesti, Nebojša Kocić, mayor of the Niš municipality of Medijana, wrote in an SNS Viber group in 2019 that jobs should first be secured for the party's commissioners, and in 2024 a job at the public utility company „Objedinjena naplata“ was offered in another Viber group of Niš Progressives, with CVs to be sent „to the party email“. Former Niš mayor Darko Bulatović said at the city assembly in 2020 that the director of „NišStan“ had been proposed by the party. In 2021, councillor Aleksandra Božanić collected members' details in an SNS Viber group for jobs at a Chinese factory; she says she sent them for testing.

Hiring after an election defeat

Južne vesti reported on 4 November 2026 that, after the election that SNS lost, Niš city administrations, companies and institutions plan to fill at least 218 jobs, and workers at the Niš water utility say more than 50 SNS activists are being hired through an unlawful job classification.

Nova.rs reported on 2 November 2026 that around 50 workers from the company PRO TENT are being taken on at EPS; some employees say these workers worked on SNS campaigns.

Slobodan Tešić, the former finance director of the Belgrade Fair, says SNS loyalists are being promoted there en masse after the election, and 59 employees say they were appointed to polling station committees without their knowledge, nominated by organisations close to SNS.

Capillary votes in prisons

Lawyer Ivan Ninić said on 1 November 2026 that he had filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime against 63 people who, he alleges, organised the collection of capillary votes for SNS in prisons across Serbia in the 25 October election, including blackmailing staff and having them attend rallies. On the basis of that complaint, the Prosecutor's Office opened a case against Justice Minister Nenad Vujić, the director of the Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions Mile Jandrić, adviser Milica Radonjić and 60 others, and ordered the police to check the allegations.

The warden of Zabela prison, Rodoljub Rončević, whom Ninić names as the coordinator, was arrested on the orders of the Kraljevo prosecutor's office and has reportedly been remanded in custody (2026 elections), while the warden of the Niš prison, Bratislav Dikić, has reportedly admitted that the prison tracked capillary votes on the orders of the Administration's “Headquarters”.

Aleksinac, Sečanj and Čačak

According to Južne vesti, Vojkan Stanojević, director of the Kulina care home near Aleksinac, wrote in 2024 in correspondence he denies that some thirty workers had been given permanent jobs through the SNS. Nurse Tanja Bratić says she lost her job because she did not go to rallies.

In Sečanj, the kindergarten contract of Milica Jeličić, a candidate on an opposition list, expired on 31 August 2026; she claims this was ordered by SNS coordinator Saša Santovac and has filed a criminal complaint. In Čačak, according to the OzonPress portal, Miodrag Stevanić, the father of an SNS commissioner, became head of a student dormitory despite a final criminal conviction.

Participants

Government of the Republic of Serbia: It introduced a public-sector hiring freeze, with hiring allowed only with the approval of its commission, and extended it to the end of 2026 (commented on the case)
Serbian Progressive Party: ODIHR notes widespread allegations of pressure on public-sector employees to vote for the party and collect “capillary” votes (responsible)
Aleksandar Vučić: He said call centres are not banned, announced a tax inspection and questioned the recording about the daily pay (commented on the case)
Vladimir Đukanović: He said all parties collect safe votes and that the DS was the one that brought the practice into widespread use (commented on the case)
Milan Stamatović: As mayor of the municipality, according to recordings published by Nova.rs, he told his associates that without capillary votes for the SNS they could be “neither a director nor a cleaner” (responsible)
Milan Lazarević: According to CRTA, he is named as the person submitting the list on an SNS “safe votes” form found at the University Clinical Centre Niš; he claims the form was planted (responsible)
Belgrade public utility company “Gradska čistoća”: She sent workers on paid leave to campaign for the SNS and cut the pay of others; according to Sloga, she fired a whistleblower (responsible)
Republic Geodetic Authority: According to employees' accounts, they are being asked to collect capillary votes for the SNS, and contract renewals are made conditional on votes (responsible)
Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia: According to four employees, they were forced to collect capillary votes for SNS under threat of dismissal, transfer and being barred from promotion (responsible)
Banka Poštanska štedionica (Postal Savings Bank): According to accounts presented by Tepić, employees must collect 20 to 40 safe votes for the SNS or risk losing their jobs (responsible)
Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (until 2020 the Anti-Corruption Agency): After a little over a month, it dismissed a complaint that the SNS had set up a call centre and paid activists in breach of the law (responsible)
First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade: It received a complaint about the call centre; acting on that order, the police had still not gathered information even after three reminders (investigation and courts)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Special Department for Combating Corruption: It refused to act on its own initiative over the call centre, arguing that electoral irregularities fall under the Republic Electoral Commission and the City Electoral Commission (responsible)
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia: Acting on the prosecution's order, it failed to gather information about the call centre even after three reminders and spoke to no one (responsible)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Kraljevo: It dismissed a complaint about a party call centre at the Social Work Centre in Gornji Milanovac, stating that there were no grounds for suspicion (responsible)
Public Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime: It asked the criminal police to gather information about „Lisje“ and about capillary votes in prisons (investigation and courts)
OSCE/ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights): It recorded reports of public sector employees being pressured to vote for the ruling party, and allegations of capillary voting (oversight and the public)
CRTA (Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability): It concluded that pressure on voters is constant; a 2022 survey found that 14% of citizens had been under pressure (oversight and the public)
BIRN: It collected testimony from around 180 people, mostly from the public sector, about being coerced into gathering votes for the SNS (oversight and the public)
CINS (Centre for Investigative Journalism of Serbia): It reported that a journalist took a job at an SNS call centre, with cash payments and photographing of ballots, and that a complaint has been sitting for years (oversight and the public)
Transparency Serbia: In 2017, Nenadić said that collecting safe votes is not illegal in itself, but that it runs counter to the secrecy of the ballot (oversight and the public)
Marinika Tepić: She presented testimony from Poštanska štedionica that employees must collect safe votes or face dismissal (oversight and the public)
Željko Veselinović: He said in 2023 that employees seeking a permanent post must collect 40 safe votes instead of 20 (oversight and the public)
Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions: According to Ninić's complaint, the acting director told prison governors to “get the most out of it” before the polls closed (responsible)
Dejan Carević: According to Krstić, he offered to drop disciplinary proceedings against her if she moved to another prison; he signed off on Stoiljković's transfer (responsible)
Saša Stoiljković: According to Danas, he admitted that as head of the city administration he collected capillary votes for the SNS from subsidy recipients in 67 villages (responsible)
Valentina Krstić: She was suspended and moved to a lower post after criticising Stoiljković's hiring; she resigned because she does not feel safe (harmed)
Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI): Reported Stoiljković's hiring and Krstić's suspension to the Agency, the prosecutor's office, the OSCE and the EU delegation (oversight and the public)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš: According to BIRODI, it concluded that there were no grounds for launching criminal proceedings over the reports on Stoiljković's hiring (responsible)
Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS): Is taking on about 50 PRO TENT workers who, power plant staff say, worked for the SNS and are being rewarded with the jobs (responsible)
PRO TENT: According to a statement by anonymous TENT workers, it paid 50 people who did not show up for work but worked for the SNS instead (responsible)
Ivan Ninić: He reported to the Organised Crime Prosecutor's Office 63 people who, he says, organised the gathering of capillary votes for the SNS in prisons; the prosecutor's office opened a case (oversight and the public)
Nenad Vujić: According to lawyer Ninić's criminal complaint, he was at the top of a group that collected capillary votes for the SNS in prisons (responsible)
Mile Jandrić: Acting Director of the Administration for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions; allegedly told prison governors to finish the job as agreed (responsible)
Milica Radonjić: Allegedly took the governor of the Prokuplje prison to task because only 646 of 2,575 capillary voters had turned out (responsible)
Rodoljub Rončević: According to a criminal complaint filed by lawyer Ninić, he was the operational coordinator of the collection of capillary votes for the SNS in prisons (responsible)
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia: It did not answer questions about the complaint against the minister; it condemned the publication of a prison warden's phone number (commented on the case)
Igor Novaković: In 2015, he said that as director of “Jugoistok” he had hired a number of people at the request of SNS officials (responsible)
Ljubivoje Slavković: He reportedly admitted publicly that, as an SNS official, he had got his daughter a job at the state-owned company “Jugoistok” (responsible)
Miloš Banđur: Responding on behalf of the SNS in Niš, he said the party does not stand behind party-based hiring and that these were individual cases (commented on the case)
Nebojša Kocić: As municipal mayor, according to Južne vesti, he wrote in an SNS Viber group that jobs should go to party trustees first (responsible)
Zvezdan Milovanović: According to Južne vesti, an hour after their article on jobs for SNS activists, he called their journalist, insulted him and threatened to sue him (responsible)
Jelena Stanojević: She replied that the company has no open call for new staff and that she was not aware jobs there were being offered in a Viber group (commented on the case)
Darko Bulatović: In 2020, according to Južne vesti, he said that the director of “NišStan” appointed during his term as mayor had been “proposed by the party” (commented on the case)
Tihomir Perić: After his vote gave the SNS a majority in Niš, his son was reportedly given a job at Public Utility Company “Naissus” (responsible)
Public utility company “Naissus” Niš: According to its workers, it is carrying out an unlawful reorganisation of posts after the elections in order to give permanent jobs to more than 50 SNS activists (responsible)
Tatjana Nikolić: She explained that the institution is hiring 94 workers on permanent contracts with the ministry's approval, in order to reduce the number of staff on fixed-term contracts (commented on the case)
Aleksandra Božanić: She asked SNS members in a party Viber group for their personal data so she could put them forward for jobs at a Chinese factory (responsible)
Vojkan Stanojević: As director of the "Kulina" Home, he allegedly gave some thirty workers permanent jobs through the SNS and asked staff to attend rallies (responsible)
Saša Santovac: According to Milica Jeličić, as SNS coordinator for Sečanj he ordered the kindergarten director to terminate her employment (responsible)
Nataša Rađenović: According to Milica Jeličić, she did not renew Jeličić's contract at the kindergarten after a conversation with the SNS coordinator (responsible)
Miodrag Stevanić: He was allegedly promoted to manager of a student residence hall even though the law bars hiring anyone sentenced to prison, as he was (responsible)
Bratislav Dikić: He allegedly admitted that on election day, on the orders of the UIKS „Headquarters“, the prison he runs monitored capillary votes and voter turnout (responsible)
Slobodan Tešić: He has warned publicly that the Belgrade Fair is on the verge of collapse, partly because of party hiring, and that SNS loyalists are being promoted after the election (oversight and the public)