Skopje, 31 October 2021 (MIA) – Voting in the second round of the 2021 local elections started peacefully, but violations of election silence, hate speech and smear campaign on social media were also registered, CIVIL head Xhabir Derala said on Sunday. He highlighted a single case of pressure being put on one of CIVIL’s observers, in the eastern part of the country, adding that the incident has been reported to the police. “We’ve had fewer reports of attempts at hindering the work of CIVIL observers, compared to the first election round,” Derala said. He added that in a polling station in Kumanovo, one of CIVIL’s observers was asked to disclose their national identification number. “Furthermore, there have been a couple of reports on violations of the secret voting in a polling place in Kumanovo,” Derala underlined. CIVIL observers, he added, have once again registered issues with use of fingerprint scanners. “In a polling place in Kisela Voda, only 19 out of 70 voters didn’t have an issue with identification using fingerprint scanners,” Derala said, adding that problems were also reported in Radovish, Tetovo and Karposh. In another polling station in Kisela Voda, CIVIL observers reported that there was no screen separating voters with physical disabilities from the rest. Moreover, CIVIL observers registered violations of COVID protocols in Tetovo and Lozovo. According to CIVIL, news websites violated the election silence. “Right after midnight on Saturday, one held a live stream via social media and its website over alleged vote buying in Ohrid,” Derala said. He added that CIVIL observers also registered election silence violations in Kapishtec. “Election flyers were hanged on the doors of most apartments in the neighborhood. CIVIL has photos and testimonies from citizens proving that the election silence was violated,” Derala briefed.