Early Parliamentary Elections, 25 October 2026

Mission at a glance

Head of Mission: Eoghan Murphy

14 core team experts from 12 participating States, based in Belgrade

30 long-term observers from 15 participating States deployed throughout the country

Mission schedule

15 September: Arrival of the core team

23 September: Arrival of long-term observers

24 September: Briefing of long-term observers

25 September: Deployment of long-term observers throughout the country

21 October: Arrival of short-term observers

25 October: Election day

26 October: Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions

28 October: Departure of short-term observers

1 November: Departure of long-term observers

4 November: Core team departure

Following an invitation to observe the 25 October early parliamentary elections, based on the findings and a recommendation of the Needs Assessment Mission, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

Long-term Observation

The mission is led by Eoghan Murphy and consists of a core team of 14 experts based in Belgrade. In addition, 30 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 25 September.

The mission will assess whether the elections are 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:

election-related legislation and its implementation
the work of the election administration and other relevant bodies
voter registration
candidate registration
campaign environment and activities, including online and through social media platforms
institutional preparedness and effectiveness to detect and address disinformation, foreign and domestic misinformation and interference, co-operation with social media platforms
campaign finance, including its regulation, transparency and accountability
media environment and media coverage of the elections
the resolution of election-related disputes

The observers will also assess how prior ODIHR election related recommendations have been considered. The ODIHR EOM will conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign, including on social networks.

Election Day

ODIHR will request the secondment of 300 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 observe:

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

For election day itself, delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP) will join efforts with the ODIHR mission. The day after the elections, ODIHR will issue a joint statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued some months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has observed 20 previous elections in Serbia, most recently the 2024 local elections.