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

September

President Aleksandar Vučić signed a decree dissolving the National Assembly and calling extraordinary parliamentary elections for 25 October 2026. Only parliamentary elections were called; no local or presidential vote was announced. The assembly elected on 17 December 2023 therefore ends its term early. The call formally opens the campaign, but CRTA's monitoring recorded a de facto campaign already under way through the summer, with the advantages of incumbency mobilised months before the rules on campaigning applied.

Election calendar

The Government of Serbia adopted a proposal and forwarded it to the President of the Republic to dissolve the National Assembly and call elections for members of parliament. In the justification, Prime Minister Đuro Macut stated that electoral conditions and legislation had been additionally and significantly improved since the elections of 17 December 2023, particularly by taking ODIHR recommendations into account. The proposal does not itself call elections - that decision rests with the President, and elections would have to be called by 10 September for the announced date of 25 October to remain legally possible.

CRTA's two members of the Commission auditing the Unified Voter Register assessed that a comprehensive, system-level audit establishing the register's accuracy, completeness and integrity is not feasible under current conditions. Of roughly seven months available for substantive work, about four were consumed in securing access to basic voter-level data and its history of changes. Access to the source registers allows only individual checks by a known personal number, and the Commission was informally told an IT audit of the register software would not be permitted. The first report due on 28 October will therefore be a diagnostic assessment and a set of partial audits.

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

2016, 2020, 2022, 2023

2020: Regular parliamentary elections
2016, 2022, 2023: Snap parliamentary elections

Presidential elections

2017, 2022

*Additionally: Referendum on Constitutional changes in 2022

Local elections

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

Legal and institutional framework

Five electoral and anti-corruption laws were rewritten inside the election year, creating the basis for eight of 54 ODIHR recommendations to be fulfilled, only one a priority one.

Update

Media and information

In RTS's Dnevnik 2 the ruling majority received 96 per cent of the time given to political actors and the opposition four, while the regulator remained without a functioning council.

Update

Pre-election environment

More than 1,200 activities by senior state officials in four months, 18 per cent of them with elements of the misuse of public resources, and almost a billion euros announced.

Update

Voter register

Four of the seven months left for the voter register audit went on seeking access to basic data. The Commission's report is due by 28 October 2026.

Update

Observation methodology

Observation is not confined to election day: it is permanent civic infrastructure, built because those who would shape the outcome irregularly now act before elections are called.

Update

Political context

More than 600 manipulative headlines discredited the government's critics between January and August, while a new actor emerged with the capacity to match the ruling coalition.

Update

Government proposes dissolving parliament and calling early elections

The decision now rests with the President of the Republic. The Government's stated reason - significantly improved electoral conditions since 2023 - is not what CRTA's monitoring has found.

Update

Unified Voter Register audit – status and outlook before the election campaign

CRTA's members of the Commission assess that the report due to the National Assembly on 28 October will be a set of partial diagnostic findings, not a completed audit.

Update

Serbia adopts anti-corruption law amendments: some concerns addressed, others remain

The National Assembly amended the Law on Prevention of Corruption (in force 1 September 2026), strengthening campaign monitoring and sanctions, while key concerns on officials' definition and asset declarations remain.

CRTA.Plus is part of CRTA’s work to document developments related to democracy, the rule of law, and accountability in Serbia.

Key Issues

Slučajevi

Other pages

Slučajevi

Elections and Voting Integrity

President Vučić dissolved the National Assembly and called extraordinary parliamentary elections for 25 October.

The Government proposed to the President of the Republic that he dissolve the National Assembly and call early parliamentary elections.

CRTA’s members of the UVR Commission assess that a meaningful audit of the voter register cannot be completed under current conditions.

Serbia's Election Record

CRTA's Election Observation History

Legal and institutional framework

Media and information

Pre-election environment

Voter register

Observation methodology

Political context

Government proposes dissolving parliament and calling early elections

Unified Voter Register audit – status and outlook before the election campaign

Serbia adopts anti-corruption law amendments: some concerns addressed, others remain