SR

Elections and Voting Integrity

In 2026, Serbia's elections are still defined by blurred state-party lines, voter pressure, misuse of public resources, unequal media access, and intimidation of observers - the opposite of free and fair elections. CRTA's Election Observation Mission has delivered the same verdict every cycle since 2023: neither free nor fair, with each year adding violence and criminalization, especially in the November 2025 and March 2026 local elections.
Assessment of ODIHR's recommendations
July

In May 2026, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption prepared draft amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, aimed at separating the exercise of public office from election campaigning and preventing the misuse of public office and public resources, implementing several ODIHR and GRECO recommendations. CRTA sees a step forward - notably on social media and limits on officials' campaigning - but warns that several provisions remain insufficiently precise, particularly the definition of a public official, random-sample monitoring, and the asset-declaration rules. The draft has not yet entered parliamentary procedure.
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As of mid-July 2026, the first concrete steps towards a substantive review of the voter register are under way. Commission members have been given access to the Unified Voter Register, including the history of changes, though a secure environment for analysing the data is still being set up. Cooperation with the Office for IT and eGovernment on cross-checking the register against civil, residence and citizenship records is under way, with first results expected during July, and the audit of the first municipalities that held March elections is expected to conclude by the end of the month.
Read more on UVR Audit

On 6 July 2026, amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities came before the National Assembly. They lower the limits on donations from citizens and companies, cap campaign spending, and for the first time regulate third-party campaigns, while also limiting party borrowing and requiring public resources to be offered on equal terms. CRTA notes, however, that several solutions stay imprecise and open to circumvention, and that the tighter limits fall hardest on new and smaller actors while barely affecting parties with stable public funding.
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Serbia's Election Record

CRTA Election Observation Mission — verdicts by cycle
2023
Neither free nor fair
2024
Neither free nor fair
2025
Neither free nor fair
2026
Overshadowed by violence
Pattern: ODIHR has documented the blurring of the line between state and party since 2016, and voter pressure since 2012.
* Will not reflected - the degree of documented irregularities is such that the results do not reflect the electoral will of the citizens.

CRTA's Election Observation History

Parliamentary elections
4
2016, 2020, 2022, 2023


2020: Regular parliamentary elections
2016, 2022, 2023: Snap parliamentary elections
Presidential elections 
2
2017, 2022


*Additionally: Referendum on Constitutional changes in 2022
Local elections
22


2017: Zaječar, Pećinci. 2018: Lučani, Belgrade 2022: Belgrade. 2023: Belgrade. 2024: Belgrade
2025: Kosjerić, Zaječar, Mionica, Sečanj, Negotin. 2026: Aranđelovac, Bor, Bajina Bašta, Kula, Smederevska Palanka, Sevojno, Lučani, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Knjaževac
Update
Draft Law Amending the Law on Prevention of Corruption
The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has proposed amendments aimed at a clearer separation between the exercise of public office and election campaigning, and at preventing the misuse of public office and public resources. The draft implements four ODIHR and several GRECO recommendations and may represent a step forward, but several provisions leave room for discretionary interpretation and...
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Update
What the amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities introduce
Proposed by MP Petrašinović, the amendments went through three drafts and a withdrawal before returning to parliament under an expedited procedure. They incorporate more of ODIHR's recommendations than past practice, but several solutions stay imprecise and the process bypassed genuine public debate.
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Update
Kofi Annan Foundation: Serbia faces Europe’s second-highest electoral violence risk, after Rus...
The Kofi Annan Foundation's Electoral Vulnerability Index puts Serbia's electoral violence risk score at 48.8, the highest in Europe after Russia, ahead of the 2027 presidential and parliamentary elections.
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Update
Draft amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities: progress on ODIHR’s recommen...
The amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities were submitted to parliament by MP Petrašinović and revised after ODIHR's comments. CRTA's analysis compares both drafts article by article: the text incorporates more of ODIHR's recommendations than past practice, but several solutions remain imprecise and the process has not run through a genuine, consensus-based public consultation....
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Update
Auditing the voter register: purpose, impact, and where we are at the moment
The purpose of the audit is to determine, on the basis of evidence, whether the Unified Voter Register can be trusted — and to correct the problems it finds. It does this by testing both the accuracy of the data and the resilience of the system that maintains it, proceeding in sequence from first indications, through deeper checks, to findings and conclusions.
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Update
Election scenarios – when could elections take place
The ruling party talks about elections, the students and the opposition demand them, and the public doesn't know what to expect. This tool helps you navigate the possible scenarios: from regular elections in December 2027, to early parliamentary elections this autumn, combined presidential and parliamentary elections, or early presidential elections alone. Select a scenario and see when elections ...
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Update
Where the UVR Commission stands as the 31 May deadline nears
Five months after it was established, the Commission has adopted its methodology and begun initial work, but the authorities have not granted the data access the law requires. Without it, the substantive audit cannot begin - and the body faces possible termination at the end of May.
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Update
What is the UVR Commission?
A body established by Parliament to audit the Unified Voter Register and help rebuild public trust in it. It is meant to bring together nominees of the ruling majority, the opposition, and civil society, and to take decisions only with cross-group agreement.
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Update
CRTA’s assessment of ODIHR recommendations from 2023 and 2024
Between the 2023 parliamentary elections and the 2024 local elections, ODIHR issued 54 recommendations for Serbia's electoral process. Meanwhile, Serbian authorities have been actively trying to convince the domestic — and above all the international — public that they are implementing electoral reforms. CRTA verifies which recommendations have been implemented, which only formally, and which have...
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Elections & Voting Integrity
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