REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - PRESIDENTIAL AND EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS - 3 APRIL 2022

Of the 23 permanent REC members, SNS nominated 8, SPS 3, and one member each was nominated by the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS), Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS), the SVM, the SSP, the JS, the SDA, the Serbian Movement Dveri, the DJB, the SDS, the POKS, the SRS, and the Serbian Party Zavetnici (SSZ). [...] The REC’s decision to reject the “Russian Minority Alliance” (RMS) was appealed by the submitter and overturned by the Administrative Court, as the final appeals instance.50 Following the registration of the RMS and closing of the candidate registration process, the REC additionally raised concerns about some of the support signatures submitted by the coalition; subsequently, the respective certif. [...] The second disbursement is distributed on the basis of election results.74 However, the law does not condition the second disbursement to lawful financing of campaigns and does not prescribe the verification of campaign finance reports prior to the 70 The law lacks clear and comprehensive provions related to the subject and scope of the financial control. [...] Without clear legal criteria, the selection of donors and the scope of 82 This relates, inter alia, to a lack of uniformity in the reports with respect to the indication of payments and contractors, reporting of in-kind contributions, and the estimation of costs of services and campaigning by volunteers, organizations supporting the contestants and constituent parties of electoral coalitions. [...] While the APC stated to the ODIHR EOM that the choice of the donors for the tax control is within the competence of the Tax Authority, according to the Tax Authority, the selection of donors shall be determined by the APC, on the basis of the verifications of financial reports.