Serbs in Gracanica voting for new mayor

Early elections are taking place on Sunday in the Serb dominated town of Gracanica, close to Pristina, after former mayor Branimir Stojanovic resigned from the office and become a deputy "Prime Minister" of Kosovo authorities last December in 2014.

The vacant position of the mayor after Stojanovic's resignation imposed the need for early elections in which four candidates are competing.

Vladeta Kostic is a candidate of Srpska list which has the support of the Serbian government, Nenad Rasic is a candidate of the Serbian Progressive Party, Dragisa Miric is a candidate of the National Movement of Kosovo. The forth candidate is Shaip Berisha, an Albanian candidate of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Kosovo Central Election Commission (CEC) said the voting process started normally in all 27 polling centers across the municipality.

"All the polling centers opened at 7 a.m., and no incidents or irregularities are reported. The necessary material for the elections was submitted in time, and nothing is missing," said the Serbian CEC member Nenad Rikalo.

Rikalo explained that the criteria for voting remains the same with the previous parliamentary and local elections, which means that voters can cast they vote either with identifications documents issued by the Interior Ministry of Kosovo or Serbia. He denied local media reports that the voting is eligible only for people with Kosovo documents only.

Up to 22,000 eligible voters are registered, and the polling centers will close up at 7 p.m.. Preliminary results are expected as early as late Sunday, while the final official ones after 48 hours, depending on parties complains. If no one of the four candidates gains 50 percent of the vote then the runoff will take place after two or three weeks.

Kosovo is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between Belgrade and Pristina. Serbia categorically refuses to recognize Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008. Endit