Slovenia parliamentary elections 2026: ODIHR election assessment mission final report

Slovenia’s 2026 parliamentary elections were held in a pluralistic environment, with respect for fundamental freedoms and overall high public trust in the process, although long-standing gaps remained in campaign finance regulation and transparency, including the absence of provisions on interim reporting and pre-campaign and third-party spending. Voters benefited from diverse sources of information, enabling an informed choice.

These are some of the main conclusions from the final report on the 2026 parliamentary elections published today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The election administration managed the process professionally and transparently, although limited voter education and insufficiently accessible information affected the full and informed participation of some voter groups, including voters with disabilities, the report also states.

The report offers 19 recommendations to improve the election process and support efforts to bring it further in line with the commitments made by all OSCE states, as well as other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.

Key recommendations include:

• Introducing a requirement for the periodic review of electoral district boundaries through a transparent process involving broad public consultations;
• Clarifying the approach to determining the location of early voting polling stations to strengthen legal certainty and public trust;
• Clearly defining permissible activities by public officials during campaigns and providing practical guidance to ensure a clear separation between campaigning and public functions;
• Strengthening campaign finance transparency and accountability by regulating third-party campaigning and spending, defining disclosure rules for pre-campaign expenditures and introducing interim campaign reporting before election day; and
• Strengthening voter education efforts throughout the electoral cycle, including through proactive and inclusive campaigns that are accessible in multiple formats and tailored to different groups of voters, including persons with disabilities, members of Roma communities, youths and first-time voters.

ODIHR deployed an election assessment mission on 4 March 2026, which remained in the country until 26 March 2026.

All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to following up promptly on ODIHR’s election assessments and recommendations. Information on previous ODIHR recommendations and the extent to which they have been implemented so far can be found on page 25 of the report. The ODIHR Electoral Recommendations Database tracks the implementation of recommendations across the entire OSCE region.