77. The Law on Local Elections fails to guarantee political plurality or balanced ethnic representation on the permanent membership of electoral administration bodies. There should be a guarantee of political plurality in the membership of the permanent composition of MECs and PBs, including representatives of those parties or coalitions that are in opposition in the appointing municipal assembly. The threshold requirement of nominating a number of candidates equal to at least two-thirds of the number of councillors in order to appoint extended members is likely to exclude smaller parties, such as those representing ethnic minorities. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission recommend that the “two-thirds of seats” threshold for extended membership should be reduced or, alternatively, those parties that submit electoral lists that do not meet the threshold should be allowed to nominate joint representatives.
