Presidential Election, 19 March and 2 April 2023

Following an invitation to observe the local elections in Montenegro scheduled for 19 March 2023, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

The ODIHR EOM and the OSCE Mission in Montenegro operate separately under their specific mandates.

Long-term Observation

The mission is led by Tamás Meszerics and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Podgorica. In addition, 14 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 17 March.

The mission will assess whether the elections are 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 financing
• the work of the election administration and relevant state institutions
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The ODIHR EOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign. The ODIHR EOM will also conduct a limited qualitative and quantitative observation of election campaigns on social networks.

Election Day

ODIHR will request the secondment of 100 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to follow the election day proceedings. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two, which will monitor:

• the opening of polling stations
• the voting
• the counting of ballots
• the tabulation of results at all levels.

Co-operation with other partners

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament intend to deploy observer delegations for these elections.

The day after the elections, ODIHR, together with its parliamentary partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately two months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed 17 elections in Montenegro, most recently the 2020 parliamentary elections.