Half-Million Missing Addresses Cloud Serbia's High-Stakes Vote

Voter records in Serbia contain approximately 500,000 entries missing full addresses, according to a new investigation by RFE/RL's Balkan Service. The data shows many registered voters lack specific street names or house numbers. Some records list individuals at public facilities like social welfare centers or at residential addresses that cannot logically hold so many people.

The discovery adds pressure to the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25. Aleksandar Vucic, who has led Serbian politics for fourteen years, is running for prime minister. He resigned as president in late September to avoid seeking a third term in that office. He previously held the premiership from 2014 to 2017. His main rival is an opposition movement that grew out of recent student protests.

Vladimir Bilcik, a former European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, called this the first election in over a decade with a genuinely uncertain outcome. Current polling shows the electorate is deeply split. The student opposition list is headed by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic. The movement consists largely of nonpartisan figures, including university professors, and has stated that Srdanovic does not guarantee a premiership if they win.

Scrutiny of the electoral process has intensified since the 2023 vote, when international observers reported irregularities. Those included transporting voters from neighboring Bosnia-Hercegovina and instances of voter intimidation. The government claims it has implemented all recommendations from the OSCE mission that criticized the previous election. However, an interim OSCE report contradicted that claim. The organization has deployed 300 observers to Serbia for the current cycle.

RFE/RL investigations also found that the number of eligible voters in Bosnia and Kosovo increased ahead of the vote. These regions are key sources of support for Vucic's Progressive Party among ethnic Serbs. Four employees of Serbia-funded institutions in Kosovo told reporters they faced pressure to vote for the ruling party. Similar practices were documented in several Serbian municipalities.

The political environment is complicated by allegations of illegal surveillance. A US Senate Foreign Relations Committee statement on October 21 cited reports of monitoring opposition members. Research by the Serbian nonprofit SHARE and Toronto University researchers alleged that Pegasus surveillance software was used in at least sixteen cases in 2026. The software is illegal in Serbia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed personal support for Vucic ahead of the election.