Parliamentary Elections, 28 December 2003

The OSCE/ODIHR long-term Election Observation Mission for the 28 December parliamentary elections was established for the period from 27 November 2003 to 3 January 2004 and consisted of 24 election experts based in Belgrade and five regional centres, including in Kosovo.

Long-term observation

Shortly before the presidential elections held on 16 November, the speaker of Serbian parliament, Natasa Micic, called early parliamentary elections for 28 December. The ongoing debate in the National Assembly on the vote of no confidence in the government was suspended and the parliament dissolved.

The forthcoming elections will measure public support for the main political parties in Serbia three years after the last parliamentary elections, which were won by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia.

The EOM, headed by Nikolai Vulchanov (Bulgaria), includes seven international staff based at the Belgrade head office and 14 long-term observers deployed in the regions. Three of these were recruited through a voluntary fund established to diversify the national composition of election observation missions.

Before, during, and after election day, the mission will assess the entire election process against national legislation and international standards for democratic elections agreed to by all OSCE participating States.

Observers will closely monitor the entire electoral process, including campaign activities, media coverage, administrative preparations, and the resolution of election-related disputes.

Election day

ODIHR plans to deploy some 200 short-term observers shortly before election day. They will be deployed across Serbia in teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results at all levels.

The day after the election, the mission will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions. A comprehensive final report will be released one month after the completion of the election process.

Previous elections

ODIHR has observed a number of elections in the Republic of Serbia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the 2003 presidential election, the 2002 presidential and repeat presidential elections, the 2002 partial municipal elections, the 2000 parliamentary elections, the 1997 parliamentary and presidential elections, and the 1997 rerun of the presidential election.