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.

Elections 2026

October

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.

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The Commission for the Audit of the Voter Register distanced itself from findings presented by the Government's Office for IT and eGovernment, which had reported a near-complete match between the voter register and source records. While confirming that the platform was developed in cooperation with it, the Commission stated that the Office's findings were not the result of consistent application of its methodology. It added that statements by other state bodies and by individual Commission members do not represent its findings, and that its audit report will be submitted to the National Assembly.

In the week of 5-11 October, the media monitoring of the CRTA Election Observation Mission found that the ruling majority received 77% of the time allocated to political actors on national television, 11 percentage points more than the week before, and the opposition 23%. Aleksandar Vučić alone accounted for 29%, more than the entire opposition. 44% of the coverage of the opposition was negative. The ruling majority's share ranged from 56% on RTS 1 to 84% on TV Prva and TV B92.

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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

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

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.

Update

Preliminary report on election campaign

Most indicators deteriorated compared with the first part of the campaign: elections held on an unaudited voter register, 116 incidents of violence and threats, and a deepening imbalance in the media.