Presidential Election, 22 December 2002 and 9 February 2003

Following an invitation from the President of the National Assembly, ODIHR established an election observation mission to monitor the 22 December 2002 presidential election.

Nikolai Vulchanov of Bulgaria was appointed head of the mission, leading 18 election experts and long-term observers from 12 OSCE participating States based in Podgorica and four regional centres. In December, the mission deployed 99 election observers from 29 OSCE participating States. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deployed a four-person delegation.

After the December election, a small team of election experts remained in Podgorica to follow developments and to prepare for the return of other mission staff on 18 January 2003. The 9 February 2003 repeat election was monitored by 65 election observers from 22 OSCE participating States.

According to the mission's final report: "The presidential elections in the Republic of Montenegro were generally administered in line with international standards. However, both rounds of voting failed to produce the 50% voter turnout required for valid elections."