Update
CRTA joins EPDE as its first member from the Western Balkans
The General Assembly of the European Platform for Democratic Elections unanimously confirmed CRTA...
Election observation isn't a single-day snapshot - it's a house of cards. Every element has to hold at once: observation of the pre-campaign and campaign period, the election-day representative sample of polling stations, the data system, the communication system, the observers and their security, the legal support and protection, post-election day observation. Remove any, and the whole structure of the EOM falls.
CRTA's Election Observation Mission (CRTA EOM) is the most comprehensive independent citizen exercise in democratic processes in Serbia, and not an Election Day operation. It is a permanent, independent civic infrastructure that combines long-term observation, statistically based Election Day observation, legal analysis and support, secure data systems and public reporting.
CRTA's approach to observation isn't optional; it's unique and necessary. Serbia, like many countries in the world, faces illegal and illegitimate attempts to shape election outcomes not only before the day of the vote, but long before the campaign officially starts. The ballot-box fraud of the past has been overtaken by something more diverse, more nuanced, and more durable: institutionally backed methods that build, protect, and entrench one side's unfair advantage over years, not weeks. Serbia is currently experiencing its deepest social and political crisis in a quarter of a century, in an electoral environment marked by long-standing and well-documented concerns about institutional advantage, pressure on voters, media imbalance, and the integrity of the voter register. These concerns have been repeatedly identified by OSCE/ODIHR and other international institutions. In such a context, credible observation cannot begin only once elections are called. It must also capture the practices and institutional developments that shape electoral conditions long before Election Day. CRTA is the only domestic observer in Serbia currently maintaining the full infrastructure required for systematic long-term observation combined with statistically based Election Day observation and independent results verification.
CRTA EOM abides by the globally recognised rules and standards for domestic non-partisan election observers.
CRTA EOM infrastructure is built to support a rigorous, globally accepted methodology - PRVT - Process and Results Verification for Transparency - the only methodology that allows domestic observers to assess whether citizens were able to make an informed and free choice and whether the officially reported results accurately reflect the ballots cast. Therefore, it demands a far higher level of operational rigour than other observation methodologies.
PRVT combines:
CRTA's Election Observation Mission (CRTA EOM) is the most comprehensive independent citizen exercise in democratic processes in Serbia, and not an Election Day operation. It is a permanent, independent civic infrastructure that combines long-term observation, statistically based Election Day observation, legal analysis and support, secure data systems and public reporting.
CRTA's approach to observation isn't optional; it's unique and necessary. Serbia, like many countries in the world, faces illegal and illegitimate attempts to shape election outcomes not only before the day of the vote, but long before the campaign officially starts. The ballot-box fraud of the past has been overtaken by something more diverse, more nuanced, and more durable: institutionally backed methods that build, protect, and entrench one side's unfair advantage over years, not weeks. Serbia is currently experiencing its deepest social and political crisis in a quarter of a century, in an electoral environment marked by long-standing and well-documented concerns about institutional advantage, pressure on voters, media imbalance, and the integrity of the voter register. These concerns have been repeatedly identified by OSCE/ODIHR and other international institutions. In such a context, credible observation cannot begin only once elections are called. It must also capture the practices and institutional developments that shape electoral conditions long before Election Day. CRTA is the only domestic observer in Serbia currently maintaining the full infrastructure required for systematic long-term observation combined with statistically based Election Day observation and independent results verification.
CRTA EOM abides by the globally recognised rules and standards for domestic non-partisan election observers.
CRTA EOM infrastructure is built to support a rigorous, globally accepted methodology - PRVT - Process and Results Verification for Transparency - the only methodology that allows domestic observers to assess whether citizens were able to make an informed and free choice and whether the officially reported results accurately reflect the ballots cast. Therefore, it demands a far higher level of operational rigour than other observation methodologies.
PRVT combines:
Election observation must begin no later than the moment elections are called, and ideally months before the campaign starts, and finish with the official proclamation of the final election result - since election integrity is a property of the whole process, not just of Election Day.
Whether the elections are free and fair is a claim about the integrity of an entire process, and that process could have many points of failure: who gets on the voter register, how open and transparent is the candidacy, how campaigns are financed and covered in media, how ballots are cast, counted, tabulated, how disputes get resolved, and many more.
When properly applied, election observation serves as an early-warning and preparedness mechanism, reducing uncertainty about where and how electoral risks may emerge, improving public understanding and informedness, and enabling timely, evidence-based responses before, during, and after Election Day. It provides an objective, fact-based foundation for understanding and addressing the shortcomings of the electoral process, for improving citizens' knowledge about elections and their rights, and for pursuing peaceful resolution of complaints - reducing the potential for political conflict.
CRTA's election observation missions in Serbia since 2016:
Whether the elections are free and fair is a claim about the integrity of an entire process, and that process could have many points of failure: who gets on the voter register, how open and transparent is the candidacy, how campaigns are financed and covered in media, how ballots are cast, counted, tabulated, how disputes get resolved, and many more.
When properly applied, election observation serves as an early-warning and preparedness mechanism, reducing uncertainty about where and how electoral risks may emerge, improving public understanding and informedness, and enabling timely, evidence-based responses before, during, and after Election Day. It provides an objective, fact-based foundation for understanding and addressing the shortcomings of the electoral process, for improving citizens' knowledge about elections and their rights, and for pursuing peaceful resolution of complaints - reducing the potential for political conflict.
CRTA's election observation missions in Serbia since 2016:
4Parliamentary elections
2Presidential elections
1Referendum
22Local elections
Evidence-to-action: CRTA's track record in using EOM findings
1. Reporting - Findings are translated into factual reporting: preliminary and final assessments of the integrity of the electoral process.
2. Education and awareness-raising - Findings feed into educational and awareness-raising public campaigns, training sessions, and regular, timely public information delivered through media and social media - building citizens' knowledge of, and trust in, the electoral process and their voting rights.
3. Legal action - Findings are translated into legal action directed at institutions - from the election administration, the Anti-Corruption Agency, and the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media, to other relevant authorities, the police and the prosecution - seeking to prevent the erosion of electoral integrity, sanction abuse, and protect voting rights.
4. Post-election advocacy with recommendations - Findings are translated into fact-based, actionable recommendations for improving the conditions for free and fair elections.
2. Education and awareness-raising - Findings feed into educational and awareness-raising public campaigns, training sessions, and regular, timely public information delivered through media and social media - building citizens' knowledge of, and trust in, the electoral process and their voting rights.
3. Legal action - Findings are translated into legal action directed at institutions - from the election administration, the Anti-Corruption Agency, and the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media, to other relevant authorities, the police and the prosecution - seeking to prevent the erosion of electoral integrity, sanction abuse, and protect voting rights.
4. Post-election advocacy with recommendations - Findings are translated into fact-based, actionable recommendations for improving the conditions for free and fair elections.
How CRTA safeguards independence and impartiality throughout observation
Domestic election observation vs. international election observation
Domestic and international observation missions are complementary, not duplicative.
Division of labour means domestic findings often give international missions a more detailed and reliable evidentiary base than they could gather on their own. The need to build capacities of domestic observers comes from the specific recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE (OSCE/ODIHR), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Division of labour means domestic findings often give international missions a more detailed and reliable evidentiary base than they could gather on their own. The need to build capacities of domestic observers comes from the specific recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE (OSCE/ODIHR), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Example
How CRTA's findings and the position of domestic observers are recognised in ODIHR reports
Across the four ODIHR reports (2020-2024), CRTA is consistently recognised as one of Serbia's leading citizen observer organisations. ODIHR's substantive use of CRTA data grew over time - from citing research and observation findings to actively relying on CRTA's real-time observation reports on Election-Day irregularities and its high-profile voter migration findings. Notably, the later reports (2023, 2024) also document a shift in context: CRTA increasingly appears not just as a source of findings but as a target of political attacks.
Scale and breadth of coverage. Domestic organisations are active before the campaign starts and deploy far larger observer networks - potentially thousands of observers - allowing total, i.e. statistically representative coverage of polling stations, including remote and rural areas international missions rarely reach. Domestic observers also specialise in areas where sustained, granular monitoring makes the greatest difference. International missions deploy a much smaller number of observers (often only dozens to a few hundred) and rely on visiting as many polling stations as possible, rather than a comprehensive and all-day presence.
Local and contextual knowledge. Domestic observers understand the language, political history, and informal power structures well enough to recognise subtler or more localised forms of manipulation that international observers, who arrive without that background, are more likely to miss.
Personal exposure and risk. Domestic observers live with the consequences of their findings after the mission ends and are more exposed to intimidation, reprisal, or pressure from local actors, since they don't leave the country once the report is published - unlike international observers, who typically enjoy a degree of diplomatic protection and depart shortly after the process concludes.
Audience and function of the findings. International assessments are pitched primarily at foreign governments and the international community, and often carry weight in decisions about diplomatic recognition of a result. Domestic reports are aimed more directly at supporting domestic trust in elections, feeding civil society advocacy, and supporting legal or policy reform at home - while also, as covered earlier, feeding into international assessments.
Standardised vs. adaptable methodology. International missions apply a consistent methodology across many countries, which makes their findings comparable over time and across borders. Domestic organisations can tailor their methodology more precisely to national legal quirks and political specifics.
Post-election continuity and impact. Domestic observers remain in the country to monitor election administration and reform implementation between cycles, letting their reports complement - and in some ways extend beyond - international findings, since their recommendations translate more directly into domestic legal and institutional reform.
Local and contextual knowledge. Domestic observers understand the language, political history, and informal power structures well enough to recognise subtler or more localised forms of manipulation that international observers, who arrive without that background, are more likely to miss.
Personal exposure and risk. Domestic observers live with the consequences of their findings after the mission ends and are more exposed to intimidation, reprisal, or pressure from local actors, since they don't leave the country once the report is published - unlike international observers, who typically enjoy a degree of diplomatic protection and depart shortly after the process concludes.
Audience and function of the findings. International assessments are pitched primarily at foreign governments and the international community, and often carry weight in decisions about diplomatic recognition of a result. Domestic reports are aimed more directly at supporting domestic trust in elections, feeding civil society advocacy, and supporting legal or policy reform at home - while also, as covered earlier, feeding into international assessments.
Standardised vs. adaptable methodology. International missions apply a consistent methodology across many countries, which makes their findings comparable over time and across borders. Domestic organisations can tailor their methodology more precisely to national legal quirks and political specifics.
Post-election continuity and impact. Domestic observers remain in the country to monitor election administration and reform implementation between cycles, letting their reports complement - and in some ways extend beyond - international findings, since their recommendations translate more directly into domestic legal and institutional reform.
CRTA EOM core pillars
Long-term observation, short-term observation, post-election advocacy
Integrity on election day no longer depends only on what happens that day, at the polling stations. The election day outcome is heavily shaped by events that precede it - during the campaign, and even before it officially begins.
Integrity on election day no longer depends only on what happens that day, at the polling stations. The election day outcome is heavily shaped by events that precede it - during the campaign, and even before it officially begins.
Integrity on election day no longer depends only on what happens that day, at the polling stations.
The electoral playing field can be tilted, and elections marred in advance, by undue influence on voters, a lack of information about elections, political actors, and the electoral offer in the media, concentration of power and abuse of institutional advantages, and derogation of human and citizen rights. If any of these negative practices persist over a long period, they create severely unfavourable conditions for free and fair elections - conditions that can hardly be remedied during the 45, 60, or 90 days of campaigning.What CRTA EOM methodology captures
1
Free will of voters
Whether the official outcome genuinely reflects the choices voters made at the ballot box.
2
Fair competition
Whether contestants competed on a level field: from campaign finance to media coverage.
3
Integrity of the process
Whether every stage held up, including voter register, casting, counting, tabulation and dispute resolution.
4
Areas of compliance and non-compliance
Where the process failed, verifiable evidence and not allegations on which complaints can be resolved.
That is why election observation assessing the entirety of the electoral process must employ:
Pillar I: Long-term observation, covering the period before the campaign, the campaign itself up to Election Day, and the period after Election Day until the official proclamation of results. This includes the quality of political and information pluralism, the quality of the legislative and institutional framework for elections, election conduct and administration, campaigning, protection of voters' and candidates' rights, protection of human and citizen rights, and electoral dispute resolution. After Election Day, long-term observation supports legal monitoring and assessment of the protection of voters' rights and the finalisation of election results.
CRTA begins observing elections at the start of the election year and expands the scope of its observation once the campaign begins* until the proclamation of final election results. (*This applies to elections expected to take place on a regular schedule.)
Pillar II: Short-term observation, conducted at a scientifically determined random and representative sample of polling stations, where statistically based observation (SBO) of the voting process goes hand in hand with parallel vote tabulation, or quick count (PVT), to determine the integrity of the outcome. Without sampling, citizen observers would need to cover every polling station - far too resource-intensive for a citizen group - so science steps in to help.
For national elections in Serbia, CRTA observes a sample of around 500 polling stations.* Observation in 2026 will run in two shifts, with up to four observers per polling station - two for the morning shift, two for the afternoon - ensuring the voting process is fully covered from opening to closing, that data quality is controlled, and that observer safety is increased. (*For local elections, CRTA observers cover every polling station in a given municipality, since the number of stations is too small to sample - and each local election is treated separately.)
Pillar III: Post-election reporting, legal follow-up and electoral reform comes after the proclamation of final results, when CRTA turns its evidence base into advocacy. After a series of periodic long-term observation and election day reports, CRTA publishes a comprehensive final report presenting its assessment of the integrity of the process and the outcome, and formulates recommendations for tackling identified problems - from issues with the voter register and campaign finance to media coverage and voters' rights protection.
Pillar I: Long-term observation, covering the period before the campaign, the campaign itself up to Election Day, and the period after Election Day until the official proclamation of results. This includes the quality of political and information pluralism, the quality of the legislative and institutional framework for elections, election conduct and administration, campaigning, protection of voters' and candidates' rights, protection of human and citizen rights, and electoral dispute resolution. After Election Day, long-term observation supports legal monitoring and assessment of the protection of voters' rights and the finalisation of election results.
CRTA begins observing elections at the start of the election year and expands the scope of its observation once the campaign begins* until the proclamation of final election results. (*This applies to elections expected to take place on a regular schedule.)
Pillar II: Short-term observation, conducted at a scientifically determined random and representative sample of polling stations, where statistically based observation (SBO) of the voting process goes hand in hand with parallel vote tabulation, or quick count (PVT), to determine the integrity of the outcome. Without sampling, citizen observers would need to cover every polling station - far too resource-intensive for a citizen group - so science steps in to help.
For national elections in Serbia, CRTA observes a sample of around 500 polling stations.* Observation in 2026 will run in two shifts, with up to four observers per polling station - two for the morning shift, two for the afternoon - ensuring the voting process is fully covered from opening to closing, that data quality is controlled, and that observer safety is increased. (*For local elections, CRTA observers cover every polling station in a given municipality, since the number of stations is too small to sample - and each local election is treated separately.)
Pillar III: Post-election reporting, legal follow-up and electoral reform comes after the proclamation of final results, when CRTA turns its evidence base into advocacy. After a series of periodic long-term observation and election day reports, CRTA publishes a comprehensive final report presenting its assessment of the integrity of the process and the outcome, and formulates recommendations for tackling identified problems - from issues with the voter register and campaign finance to media coverage and voters' rights protection.
~2,500
citizen observers targeted for the forthcoming elections
- 2,000observers, plus a 10% reserve of 200, deployed to observe Election Day inside and outside the polling stations, on a random and representative sample of 500 polling stations around Serbia
- 100deployed in long-term observation teams - from media monitoring and legal work to the field
- 200providing expert, logistics, administration and system support to the cohort of observers
CRTA 2026 EOM at a glance
- Methodology
- PRVT; long-term and statistical verification of process and results
- Sample
- 500 of ~8,300 polling stations, a random and representative sample
- Observers
- ~2,500 citizens in total, two shifts on Election Day, ensuring unbiasedness
- Standards
- Declaration of Global Principles; complementary with ODIHR practice
