Parliamentary Elections, 21 June 2020

Special Election Assessment Mission: Press Conference, Belgrade, 22 June 2020

Following an invitation to observe the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Serbia scheduled for 21 June 2020, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR is preparing to deploy a Special Election Assessment Mission (SEAM) for these elections.

The mission is led by Ambassador Urszula Gacek (Poland) and consists of a core team of eight experts based in Belgrade. The ODIHR SEAM will focus on observation of those aspects of the election process that the ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission conducted from 12 to 15 November 2019 found to merit attention.

The mission will assess whether the election is held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:

• voter registration 
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and media coverage of the campaign
• the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

Election Day

The ODIHR SEAM will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day. Mission members will, however, visit a small number of polling stations on election day.

The day after the election, ODIHR will hold a press conference. A final report summing up the observation and making recommendations for improvements will be published approximately two months after the end of the election process.

The ODIHR SEAM and the OSCE Mission to Serbia operate separately under their specific mandates.

Previous Elections

The ODIHR has previously observed 14 elections in Serbia, most recently the 2017 presidential election.