North Macedonia's 2024 presidential and early parliamentary elections were competitive, and voters had the opportunity to make informed choices. However, while the legal framework provides the basis for democratic elections, it lacks sufficient regulation for a presidential contest, and recent changes introduced without sufficient transparency and public consultation. Election day was assessed positively overall, with voting procedures largely respected, although some election boards did not fully follow procedures during the count. Rules creating a direct link between public financing of campaigns and media opportunities for candidates disproportionately favoured the major political parties.
These are some of the main conclusions from the final report on the 2024 elections published today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The report offers 25 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:
- Revising the electoral legislation to eliminate inconsistencies;
- Investigating allegations of vote-buying and misuse of public resources;
- Improving women's political participation in all aspects of the electoral process;
- Restructuring the system of allocating public funding for election campaigns to respect the principle of equal opportunity.
ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission on 21 March 2024, which remained in the country until 19 May.
All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to follow up promptly on ODIHR's election assessments and recommendations. A list of previous ODIHR recommendations and the extent to which they have been implemented so far can be found on p.xx of today's report. The ODIHR Electoral Recommendations Database tracks the implementation of recommendations across the entire OSCE region.
