CRTA observation mission reports

CRTA has observed every election cycle in Serbia since 2016, applying methodology grounded in international standards for citizen observation. The findings have documented organized voter migration, pressure on voters, irregularities in election administration, and the systematic advantages enjoyed by the ruling majority throughout the campaign period. This section brings together CRTA's observation reports - the evidence base for understanding how elections in Serbia actually work.

October

CRTA's Election Observation Mission is reporting live from the 25 October parliamentary elections on CRTA.Plus. Throughout the day, the live blog brings findings from CRTA observers at polling stations, CRTA's turnout estimates at 10:00, 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00, compared with the 2023 elections, and live streams of CRTA's press conferences. After polling stations close, CRTA will publish its preliminary projection of results and seats, based on a parallel vote tabulation on a random, representative sample of 500 polling stations - not before 21:30.

Live blog

CRTA Election Observation Mission published its preliminary report on the campaign for the early parliamentary elections of 25 October, covering the period from 9 September to 16 October 2026. The report finds that most indicators deteriorated compared with the first part of the campaign: the elections are being held on a voter register that has not been audited, 116 incidents involving physical violence and verbal threats were recorded, and on broadcasters with national coverage the share of the authorities rose to almost three quarters of the time.

Download the report

On 8 October the CRTA Election Observation Mission published its first interim report on the campaign for the early parliamentary elections of 25 October. In the first three weeks the mission recorded 49 incidents, and cases involving the misuse of public office and public resources rose by 70 per cent from the first week to the third. On RTS the authorities received 85 per cent of the time devoted to political actors and the opposition 15. Abroad, some 22,000 registered voters were left outside the network of polling stations, and the campaign against independent citizen observers continued after the elections were called.

Read the report

Full report in PDF

CRTA Observation Mission Reports

Reports published after elections, based on long-term observation of the campaign and short-term observation of the election day.

Preliminary report on the election campaign

First interim report PE26

2026 – Campaigning without the paperwork – EOM Report

2026 Local elections: Election day observation report

2025 Zaječar and Kosjerić local elections: long-term observation report

2024 Belgrade Elections: Final Election Observation Report

2023 Parliamentary Elections: Final election observation report

2022 Presidential Elections: Final election observation report

2022 Referendum: Report on the observation of the referendum to change the constitution

2020 Parliamentary Elections: Final report with recommendations

Update

Record turnout gives Student List an absolute majority, CRTA projection shows

With turnout of 69 percent, the highest this century, the Student List won a projected 138 seats, while CRTA observers recorded pressure on polling boards at every second polling station.

Update

Polling stations

There are 8,392 polling stations, 119 more than in 2023; for 18 per cent of them the area voters come from has changed, and 328 addresses are listed under two or three different polling stations.

Update

Political context

In the last weeks before the elections, cases of violence remained unresolved, domestic and international observers were targeted by attempts to discredit them, and state institutions were used ever more openly for party purposes.

Update

Conduct of the elections: electoral institutions and actors

The REC carried out most of its tasks within the deadlines, but the Agency for Prevention of Corruption did not exercise effective oversight of the campaign, and divisions in the REM Council prevented decisions on complaints against broadcasters.

Update

Position of observers

Challenges to independent observation escalated from claims of bias to calls for arrests and a ban, while the authorities disputed the impartiality of international missions in advance.

Update

Voter register

The register was closed on 9 October with 6,450,523 voters and without an audit; notes by members of the Commission describe it from the inside for the first time and point to tens of thousands of records that need to be checked.

Update

The course of the election campaign

Violence, threats and pressure on voters, together with the use of institutions for party mobilisation, marked the field campaign; United Serbia and the Student List accounted for 91 per cent of all recorded activities.

Update

Media and information

The authorities received 72 per cent of the time on broadcasters with national coverage, the opposition was portrayed negatively in nearly two fifths of its time, and pro-government portals cast critics of the authorities as a source of violence.

Update

Observation methodology

How the report was made: long-term observation of the campaign, monitoring of television, online media and newspaper front pages, and the international standards the mission follows.