The Congress spokesperson on observation of local and regional elections, Stewart Dickson, has expressed grave concern about the serious irregularities reported by the Congress' partners in their joint International Election Observation Mission of the early parliamentary elections which took place in Serbia on 17 December 2023. At the same time, the unanticipated early local by-elections following the sudden and simultaneous resignation of 65 mayors from the ruling party, were held in a third of municipalities of Serbia, including the capital.
"The reported instances of intimidation and pressure on voters, including vote-buying, and credible allegations of voter migration and bussing of voters during local elections to support the ruling party particularly in Belgrade, the inclusion of names of deceased persons on electoral lists and the misuse of administrative resources in election campaigns are very worrying allegations that could seriously infringe citizens' right to vote and undermine their trust in the democratic electoral process at all levels of government.
"In addition, the simultaneous organisation of parliamentary and local elections is not conducive to an effective electoral process at local level, and this issue has already been raised in the previous Congress recommendations on local elections in Serbia.
"In this respect, we call on the Serbian authorities to address all alleged cases of violations of the electoral process at the local level and make due and diligent investigation and to respect the standards of free and fair elections. The Congress will closely follow the situation in Serbia."
