Podgorica, (MINA) - More than 48,000 citizens have not replaced their ID cards, said Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic, stating that most of them probably do not live in Montenegro and that failed to deregister their residence, although this is a legal obligation.
 
Saranovic said this during a special parliamentary session, responding to the question from Democrats MP Momcilo Lekovic who asked what the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) has done to update the voter register.
 
He stated that at the beginning of last year, a working group on voter register oversight was formed, tasked with analyzing the legal framework, propose amendments to the law and implement the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.
 
Saranovic pointed out that updating the voter register depends on the accuracy of other registers, primarily the register of residence and identity cards.
 
According to him, the analysis determined that 48,170 citizens have not replaced their ID cards, while 13,979 citizens have not renewed that document since 2008.
 
Saranovic announced that on October 31, 2023, there were 543,380 adults in the voter register, while the census recorded 494,937 adult residents in Montenegro.
 
“The discrepancy between the voter register and the census exceeds 48,000”, said Saranovic, adding that the data on the number of those who did not replace their ID cards almost completely matches that number.
 
According to him, this suggests that some of these individuals do not live in Montenegro, but have not deregistered their residence, although they were obliged to do so.
 
Saranovic also emphasized the issues in the residence register, stating that around 240,000 citizens do not have a precisely defined address with a house number.
 
He added that the Ministry of Interior is preparing amendments that would enable a better exchange of data between institutions and a more accurate records.