Electoral reform

Electoral reform in Serbia has become a process that generates legislative activity without delivering meaningful change. The amendments to electoral laws adopted in 2026 addressed only a fraction of outstanding ODIHR recommendations - leaving 20 unfulfilled, including 6 priority recommendations. Among those still unaddressed: the separation of state and party resources in campaigns, and an end to pressure on voters - particularly public sector employees and welfare recipients. Meanwhile, new problems have emerged that existing recommendations do not yet cover, including organized violence against journalists and election observers, and the use of para-observer missions to legitimize flawed processes. This section tracks what has been proposed, what has been adopted, and what continues to be ignored.

CRTA's assessment of ODIHR recommendations fullfilment

July

Following ODIHR's 30 July 2026 needs assessment report, CRTA read its findings against its own monitoring and its June 2026 public opinion survey. On the electoral laws, the media regulator and the voter register, the ODIHR report independently confirms problems CRTA has documented throughout the 2026 reform cycle. The survey shows the same concerns among citizens: trust in the government, parliament and parties at or below a third, and 55% saying the March 2026 local elections were not free and fair.

On 30 July 2026, ODIHR published the report of its Needs Assessment Mission to Serbia and recommended deploying a full Election Observation Mission for the anticipated early elections, with a core team of analysts, 32 long-term observers and 300 short-term observers, plus media monitoring and an assessment of disinformation and foreign and domestic interference. It is the largest full-scale mission ODIHR has proposed for Serbia since 2012, larger than the missions deployed in 2022 and 2023, reflecting the concerns interlocutors raised about a highly polarised pre-election environment.

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.

ODIHR

4 out of 56

Priority recommendations have been fully implemented

Reform agenda

None

Of the composite steps related to election reform have been fully implemented

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...

Update

ODIHR’s needs assessment confirms what CRTA has documented, and what citizens already sense

Read alongside CRTA's own monitoring and the June 2026 public opinion survey, the ODIHR needs assessment describes problems CRTA has tracked for months - on electoral laws, the media regulator and the voter register - and that citizens themselves increasingly register as distrust in institutions and doubt about fair elections.

Update

ODIHR recommends its largest recent observation mission for Serbia’s early elections

After a needs assessment in July, ODIHR concluded that Serbia's anticipated 2026 early elections warrant a full Election Observation Mission with 32 long-term and 300 short-term observers - more than it deployed in either 2022 or 2023, and a measure of how serious the concerns about the pre-election environment have become.

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.

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....

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.

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...

Update

Electoral law amendments adopted without consensus or genuine public debate

On 20 May 2026, the National Assembly of Serbia adopted amendments to four electoral laws: the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, the Law on Local Elections, the Law on the Constitutional Court, and the Law on the Election of the President of the Republic. Two additional laws envisaged by the Reform Agenda - the Law on the Prevention of Corruption and the Law on the Financing of Politic...

Update

How votes become seats in Serbian Parliament

How votes become seats - and what would happen if things were different? Build scenarios, test coalitions, predict outcomes, learn how the system works.

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

Electoral reform

CRTA sets the ODIHR needs assessment against its own monitoring and survey data, finding the same problems across laws, REM, the voter register and public trust.

ODIHR recommends a full observation mission with 32 long-term and 300 short-term observers for Serbia’s anticipated early elections.

The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption drafts amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption to address several ODIHR and GRECO recommendations.

Draft Law Amending the Law on Prevention of Corruption

ODIHR’s needs assessment confirms what CRTA has documented, and what citizens already sense

ODIHR recommends its largest recent observation mission for Serbia’s early elections

What the amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities introduce

Draft amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities: progress on ODIHR’s recommen...

What is the UVR Commission?

CRTA’s assessment of ODIHR recommendations from 2023 and 2024

Electoral law amendments adopted without consensus or genuine public debate

How votes become seats in Serbian Parliament