16.12.2025. 16:28h
The problem of “cleaning” voter lists is within the jurisdiction of Montenegro and should be addressed in full cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the European Commission (EC) said.
The executive body of the European Union (EU) told “Vijesti” that they had “taken note” of the initiative of the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) to consider the issue of voter lists in the Western Balkans region.
“The European Union takes note of the initiative of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro to consider the issue of voter lists in the Western Balkans region. This is a matter within the competence of the state and should be addressed in full cooperation with the OSCE/ODIHR,” the EC said.
DPS announced at the end of November that the party would raise the issue of voter lists in the Western Balkans with Brussels early next year.
“We will go to the EU headquarters and insist that this be a process led by the Union,” the head of the DPS parliamentary group in the Parliament announced on November 28th. Andrija Nikolić.
He said that these voter registrations, their quality, legitimacy and legality depend predominantly on Serbia, which “uses people living at different addresses in voter migration to create a political environment through the election of government bodies.”
The Commission recalled that the accuracy of the voter register has been the subject of numerous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. In its opinion from June this year, the ODIHR made 17 key recommendations for improving Montenegro’s law on the voter register, focusing on alignment with international standards, the accuracy of the register and data protection.
Program Director of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) Milica Kovačević, argues that the issue of regional voter movements is an extremely complex topic, which implies the consent of several states and raises sensitive issues of exchanging data on their own citizens, the protection of personal data, and different legal regimes.
“But it cannot be a substitute for solving problems that are entirely in our hands. Montenegro must therefore first regulate what is within its jurisdiction and fulfill the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations that have been repeated for years, and which have not been substantially implemented to date, while after that it makes sense to discuss broader, regional aspects that go beyond the national framework,” Kovačević told “Vijesti”.
He estimates that, at this moment, it is crucial for Montenegro to maintain focus on the comprehensive electoral reform that is underway, because, he adds, the biggest problems of the electoral process lie within the system itself and within the jurisdiction of domestic institutions.
Residence registry among key problems
Kovačević reminds that one of the key problems that has burdened confidence in elections for years is the outdated register of residence of Montenegrin citizens, which, according to her, allows people “with fictitious residence” to vote.
“The reform must therefore offer efficient mechanisms for controlling residence, so that those who actually live and work in Montenegro can exercise their right to vote, with a clear obligation to report temporary or permanent departure from the country,” said Kovačević.
Electoral reform is being addressed by the Parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform. The co-chair of that body Nikola Rakočević (DPS) and Vasilije Carapić (Europe Now Movement) did not respond to the question of “Vijesti” yesterday when the Committee would deal with the voter list.
In June, the Democratic Party of Serbia (DPS) sent the Committee an urgent request to urgently consider their proposed amendments to the Law on the Voters’ Register. The Democrats proposed the amendments in May, with the aim of unblocking the election process in Šavnik, where elections have not been completed for more than three years.
This, as the party said, prevents the practice of fictitious registration of residence for the purpose of election engineering, which was “particularly evident” in Šavnik and resulted in a multi-year blockade of the local election process.
The elections in that municipality have not been completed three years and two months after they began…
Kovačević recalls the June OSCE/ODIHR expert opinion that “clearly identifies key weaknesses in the voter register system,” including abuses of registry extracts, insufficient data protection, an uneven and imprecise legal framework, as well as a widespread perception of an “inflated” voter register, along with, he says, unclear rules for maintaining and verifying the register and public access, “which seriously undermines confidence in the electoral process and clearly indicates that fulfilling ODIHR recommendations must be a priority for electoral reform.”
What does the OSCE propose?
ODIHR’s key recommendations are that Montenegro remove controversial conditions for exercising the right to vote (such as the requirement for permanent residence), and strengthen the accuracy and transparency of the voter register through clear procedures for public inspection, uniform rules for access to data, and better information for citizens.
It is also recommended to specify the criteria for the loss of Montenegrin citizenship, as well as the urgent issuance of personal documents so that no one is unlawfully deprived of the right to vote, and to introduce systematic checks and audits of residence records and the voter register, with clearly defined institutional responsibilities and deadlines for acting on observed irregularities.
Special emphasis is placed on data protection (use restrictions, security standards, retention periods, biometrics and possible AI solutions), as well as on clear rules for special polling stations, longer deadlines for complaints and the introduction of proportional sanctions for all actors in the system.
The opposition, both former and current, has been pointing out the problem of “double voters” for years, but it has not been resolved.
Thus, on the eve of election day in Podgorica, September 29th of last year, the president of DPS Danijel Zivkovic submitted to the Podgorica Security Center a list of 1.910 persons for whom the party claimed to exercise the right to vote in three countries.
The Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica announced at the end of February that it had determined that there were no grounds for criminal prosecution in the case.
In April, ahead of the local elections in Nikšić, the DPS announced that more than 200 people from Trebinje were registered on the voter list in the town near Trebinje, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that these claims were speculation.
The legal framework requires further changes
The European Commission stated in its annual report for Montenegro for this year that the “general framework” provides the basis for the democratic conduct of elections and that, after a long delay, the parliamentary committee tasked with drafting a comprehensive electoral reform adopted in July amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Representatives, as well as amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns.
“However, these amendments were not substantially consulted on by the relevant public, including the European Commission, and they only partially responded to existing OSCE/ODIHR and GRECO recommendations,” the Commission stated.
She pointed out that the legal framework requires additional amendments, through a transparent and inclusive consultation process with all relevant stakeholders, in order to eliminate all existing shortcomings and fully harmonize the legislation with European ones.
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