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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 ...

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.

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

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.

Serbia's Election Record

CRTA's Election Observation History

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

Kofi Annan Foundation: Serbia faces Europe’s second-highest electoral violence risk, after Rus...

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

Auditing the voter register: purpose, impact, and where we are at the moment

Election scenarios – when could elections take place

Where the UVR Commission stands as the 31 May deadline nears