Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

MONTENEGROPARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
30 AUGUST 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Misison
Final Report

Warsaw
11 December 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTSI.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 1II.

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................... 3

III.

BACKGROUND AND POLITICAL CONTEXT ........................................................................... 4

IV.

ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................. 5V.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION ................................................................................................... 7

VI.

VOTER REGISTRATION................................................................................................................ 8VII. CANDIDATE REGISTRATION.................................................................................................... 10
VIII. ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN ........................................................................................................... 11
IX.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE .................................................................................................................. 13

X.

MEDIA .............................................................................................................................................. 15
A.
B.
C.

XI.

MEDIA ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................ 15
LEGAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................... 16
MEDIA MONITORING FINDINGS.................................................................................................. 17
PARTICIPATION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES..................................................................... 18

XII. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS .................................................................................................... 19
XIII. ELECTION OBSERVATION ........................................................................................................ 21
XIV. ELECTION DAY ............................................................................................................................. 21A.
B.

OPENING AND VOTING ................................................................................................................ 21
COUNTING, TABULATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS................................................. 22

XVI. RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 24A.
B.

PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 24
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 25

ANNEX I: FINAL ELECTION RESULTS ............................................................................................. 28
ANNEX II: LIST OF OBSERVERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATIONMISSION ........................................................................................................................................ 30
ABOUT ODIHR ......................................................................................................................................... 31

MONTENEGROPARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
30 August 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report 1
I.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Following an official invitation by the Montenegrin authorities and in accordance with its mandate,
ODIHR established a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) on 5 August to observe the 30
August 2020 parliamentary elections. The mission assessed compliance of the election process with
OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, anddomestic legislation. The ODIHR LEOM did not carry out systematic or comprehensive observationof election-day proceedings, in line with ODIHR’s methodology for limited election observation
missions. Mission members did, however, visit a limited number of polling stations on election day.
The Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions issued by the International Election
Observation Mission (IEOM) on 31 August, concluded that “the elections were competitive and took
place in an environment highly polarized over issues of church and national identity. Contestants
were able to convey their messages, but the ruling party gained an undue advantage through misuse
of office and state resources and dominant media coverage. The lack of independent campaign
coverage by the media further undermined the quality of information available to voters. The law
provides basic regulations for the conduct of democratic elections but gaps and ambiguities allow forcircumvention, particularly in campaign finance. The elections were run overall transparently andefficiently, although the State Election Commission (SEC) did not properly fulfil its regulatory role.
COVID-related restrictions limited physical campaign opportunities and increased online outreach,but did not prevent voters from turning out in high numbers. Election day was orderly and the process
was generally transparent and well administered, while health protocols were not implemented
consistently.”
The electoral legal framework provides sufficient regulations for democratic conduct of elections,but gaps, ambiguities and inconsistencies undermine legal certainty and allow for selective
implementation and circumvention. It remained largely unchanged since the last parliamentaryelections, with the exception of campaign finance. A number of previous ODIHR recommendations
remain unaddressed, including those related to an audit of the Voter Register (VR), measures against
the misuse of state resources, as well as certain limitations of suffrage rights.
The election administration met legal deadlines and generally managed technical aspects of theelectoral preparations efficiently. The SEC held regular sessions open for observers but not to themedia. While it issued a number of instructions, the SEC left unaddressed some important procedural
aspects, such as the verification of signatures for candidate registration, and the tabulation of results.
In some of its decisions, like the rejection of a candidate list, the SEC used wide discretionary powers
to interpret and implement the law. The recommendations on the COVID-19 protection measures onelection day underwent several changes and were difficult to implement.
The final VR included 540,026 voters. Voters could verify the accuracy of their personal data througha dedicated website or in person and could request amendments. Authorized representatives ofcandidate lists and accredited observer organisations had the right to inspect the VR online. By law,
citizens living abroad maintain their resident status in the country, unless they request to bederegistered. While voter registration was overall efficient and transparent, erroneous understanding
1

The English version of this report is the only official document. An unofficial translation is available inMontenegrin.

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Page: 2by some electoral stakeholders, including contestants, of legal provisions on the status of citizens
residing abroad decreased the confidence in its accuracy.
The candidate registration process was overall inclusive and resulted in a diverse field of contestants.
Prospective contestants were required to submit lists of candidates with voters’ supporting signatures
and to have at least 30 per cent candidates of the underrepresented gender on the lists. Candidate lists
representing national minorities below 15 per cent of the population are required to submit fewer
supporting signatures for registration. There are no comprehensive rules on the registration ofcandidate lists with national minority status that enjoy lower thresholds for gaining seats. The SEC
registered 11 of 12 lists, five represented national minorities.
The campaign was peaceful, despite a confrontational tone, and focused on issues of national identity
and the church. Whereas the official campaign started from the call of elections, public gatherings,
including political rallies, were banned from 25 June until 23 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While pandemic-related protective measures and public health concerns altered the style ofcampaigning, contestants were still able to reach out to the voters and convey their messages,
primarily through small gatherings and online. Extensive involvement of the president, who was nota candidate, and other high-ranking government officials in the campaign blurred the line between
the state and the ruling party, contrary to OSCE commitments. Additionally, various forms of misuse
of office and state resources gave the ruling party an undue advantage in the campaign and could
influence the will of the voters. Notably, extraordinary welfare benefits were disbursed to‘vulnerable’ groups and pensioners, and temporary employment in the public sector was offered. The
ODIHR LEOM received credible allegations about pressure on voters, including public employees,
to vote for the ruling party.
A new political finance law adopted in 2019, among other things increased the limit for private
donations and decreased the expenditure ceiling. It was amended in April 2020 to legalize the
distribution of welfare benefits in an election year in case of a pandemic. The Agency for thePrevention of Corruption oversees campaign finance and the use of state resources by public
institutions. Despite some improvements, the legal framework does not establish effective safeguards
against circumvention of campaign finance rules.
The media landscape is diverse and largely partisan. Dependence on politically-affiliated businessinterests limits editorial autonomy, investigative journalism and genuine pluralism. While defamationof individuals is decriminalized, other criminal provisions limiting freedom of expression remain in
the legislation, contrary to international standards, and have resulted in detention of citizens andjournalists. Broadcasters, including the public RTCG1, provided free airtime to the contestants.
However, the campaign footage that was overwhelmingly produced by contestants themselves andthe lack of editorial coverage undermined the quality of information available to voters. News
programmes provided extensive institutional coverage to government officials but were void of
campaign coverage of other contestants, due to the legally required separation of campaign coverage
from the news.
While contestants may file complaints on every aspect of the process, voters’ right to file complaints
is limited to violations of their own voting rights, which does not fully ensure effective remedy.
Moreover, a narrow interpretation of the law by the SEC does not allow challenges of the tabulated
election results and ambiguous provisions allow for arbitrary decisions on the invalidation of theresults established by polling boards (PBs). Prior to election day, numerous complaints were filed to
the SEC on PB membership and locations of polling stations, as well as by voters alleging forgery of
their signatures in support of candidate lists. The Constitutional Court received five appeals, including
against the early call for elections, the SEC denial to register a candidate list, its decision to upholdmergers of polling stations and the instructions on mobile voting, including for voters in quarantine.

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Page: 3In the limited number of polling stations visited by the IEOM, the process was transparent andgenerally well administered, despite some inconsistent application of counting and tabulation
procedures. COVID-19 related health protocols were generally respected but not in full. The SEC
made preliminary results available in real time after the tabulation started. The turnout was reported
at 76.64 per cent.
This report offers a number of recommendations to support efforts to bring elections in Montenegro
closer in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for
democratic elections. Priority recommendations relate to a need for a comprehensive electoral reform
following public consultations, reviewing the legal competence and residency requirements forsuffrage rights, regulating tabulation procedures by the Municipal Election Commssions, prescribing
sanctions for inaccurate financial reporting, reviewing the legal provisions concerning theinvalidation of PB election results, and providing for legal challenges of the tabulated results. ODIHR
stands ready to assist the authorities to further improve the electoral process and to address therecommendations contained in this and previous reports.
II.

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Following an invitation from the authorities of Montenegro and in accordance with its mandate, theOSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established a Limited Election
Observation Mission (LEOM) on 5 August to observe the 30 August 2020 parliamentary elections. 2
The Mission assessed the compliance of the election process with OSCE commitments, otherinternational obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.
For election day, ODIHR LEOM joined efforts with a delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly (OSCE PA) to form an International Election Observation Mission (IEOM). Ms. Margareta
Cederfelt, Vice-President of the OSCE PA and head of the OSCE PA delegation, was the leader of
the Short-term Observers (STOs) and Mr. Tamás Meszerics (Hungary) was the Head of the ODIHR
LEOM. Both institutions involved in this IEOM have endorsed the 2005 Declaration of Principles forInternational Election Observation. The IEOM did not carry out systematic or comprehensive
observation of the voting, counting and tabulation proceedings on election day, in line with ODIHR’s
methodology for limited election observation missions. Mission members did, however, visit alimited number of polling stations on election day. This final report follows a Statement ofPreliminary Findings and Conclusions released on 31 August 2020. 3
The ODIHR LEOM consisted of an 11-member core team based in Podgorica and 10 long-term
observers (LTOs) deployed on 11 August to five locations across the country. Mission members weredrawn from 15 OSCE participating States. The LEOM members remained in country until 8
September to follow post-election day developments. The OSCE PA delegation included fiveinternational observers.
The IEOM wishes to thank the authorities of Montenegro for their invitation to observe the elections,and the State Electoral Commission (SEC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the assistance. It
also expresses appreciation to other state institutions, the judiciary, political parties, media, civil2

3

In its Needs Assessment Mission report in relation to these elections, ODIHR had recommended the deploymentof an Election Observation Mission (EOM), that would include, in addition to a core team of analysts, 16 longterm observers to follow the process countrywide, as well as 100 short-term observers (STOs) for the observationof election day procedures. However, the deployment of STOs was considered not feasible due to the extraordinary
circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions across the OSCE region.
Therefore, ODIHR changed the format of the observation activity from an EOM to a LEOM.
See previous ODIHR election-related reports on Montenegro.

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Page: 4society organizations, international community representatives, and other interlocutors for their cooperation and for sharing their views.
III.

BACKGROUND AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

On 20 June, the president called parliamentary elections for 30 August. Subsequently, local elections
in five municipalities were also called to be held concurrently. 4 The Democratic Party of Socialists(DPS) has been in power since 1991 and its leader, Milo Đukanović, has been alternating in thepositions of president and prime minister. He was elected as president for the second time in 2018.
Following the 2016 parliamentary elections, the DPS formed a ruling coalition with 42 members ofparliament (MPs), with the support of five other parties, including three representing the Albanian,Bosniak and Croat minorities, respectively. 5 The opposition parties obtained 39 seats. 6 However, theyrefused to accept the election results, as a protest to the arrests of a number of individuals on the eveof elections, for allegedly planning a coup d’état which the opposition considered as fabricated. 7 As
a result, all six opposition parties boycotted parliamentary sessions until October 2017, demanding afair investigation. Subsequently, four parties returned to parliament but two continued the boycott. 8
After December 2018, criminal proceedings were initiated against five opposition MPs and one wasarrested. 9 There was no prior waiver of immunity by parliament, as required by the Constitution. 10 In
January 2019, a corruption scandal, the ‘envelope affair’, triggered street protests supported by civilsociety groups and opposition parties. 11 Subsequently, the opposition gradually and partly resumed
boycott, as a response to the demands by protesters. The adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion
in 2019 further deepened the national and political divide. 12 Referring to the above cases, some
ODIHR LEOM interlocutors pointed to a democratic backslide and a lingering political crisis withlack of genuine political dialogue.

4
5
6
7

8
9

10
11

12

Local elections were held in Andrijevica, Budva, Gusinje, Kotor, and Tivat. The ODIHR LEOM followed the local
elections only to the degree they affected the process and preparations for these parliamentary elections.
DPS had 36 seats (including one seat won by Liberal Party), Social Democrats (SD) – 2, the Bosniak Party (BS) –2, New Democratic Force (Forca) – 1, the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) – 1.
Democratic Front (DF) – 18, Democrats – 8, Key Coalition (Demos, SNP, URA) – 9, Social Democratic Party(SDP) – 4.
In June 2017, 14 people were indicted for preparing a conspiracy against the constitutional order and security ofMontenegro and an attempt to organize a terrorist act. In May 2019, the Supreme Court of Montenegro convicted
13 persons, including 2 opposition leaders.
DF, SDP, DEMOS, and SNP returned to parliamentary sessions while URA and Democrats continued abstaining.
In December 2018, detention orders were issued for two DF MPs: one avoided arrest by remaining inside theParliament. The arrested MP served three months in prison for an attack on a police officer during the October
2015 protests. In December 2019, another three DF MPs received conditional sentences for verbal and physicalattacks against DPS MPs in February 2017 and criminal proceedings were initiated against additional three DF
MPs.
The detention orders were temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court while the final decision on theconstitutionality of the detentions was pending in September 2020.
A video appeared on internet featuring prominent businessman handing an envelope with money to the former
mayor of Podgorica, as donation for the DPS 2016 election campaign. The Special Prosecutor initiated criminal
proceedings. Following the release of the video, opposition MPs sued the president and the Chief Prosecutor formoney laundering and forming an organised criminal group.
The Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities aims at reviewing theproperty ownership of religious organizations, mainly the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).

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Several ODIHR LEOM interlocutors questioned the legality of the early call for elections and claimed
that this timing gave the ruling party an undue advantage. 13 A constitutional complaint was filed
citing the failure of the parliament to shorten its mandate, as required by the Constitution. 14 The
authorities claimed that the appointment of the date took into consideration challenges related to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
IV.

ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKThe 81-member unicameral parliament is elected for a four-year term from closed candidate lists
under a proportional representation system in a single nationwide constituency. The lists are eligible
for seats if they obtain at least three per cent of the valid votes. Preferential rules apply for lists
representing national minorities not exceeding 15 per cent of the total population. If none of such lists
surpasses the three per cent threshold, all lists representing the same national minority that haveobtained each at least 0.7 per cent of the votes are granted up to three seats, jointly, based on the sumof their votes. The frontrunner among the Croat minority lists is granted a seat provided that it has
obtained at least 0.35 per cent of the votes.
Parliamentary elections are primarily regulated by the 2007 Constitution and the 1998 Law on
Elections of Councillors and Members of Parliament (the election law, last amended in 2018 by theConstitutional Court) supplemented by SEC instructions. 15 The electoral legal framework remains
largely unchanged since the last parliamentary elections, with the exception of campaign finance. A
parliamentary Committee for a Comprehensive Reform of Electoral and Other Legislation functioned
from 2018 until 2019 with limited participation of the opposition. Positively, several representativesof the academia and the civil society participated in its work as associate members. The draft election
law elaborated by the Committee addressed some prior ODIHR recommendations but was not put toa vote in parliament. 16
On 27 December 2019, some election-related laws were amended. 17 The changes were introduced
without public consultations and without effective involvement of relevant stakeholders, at odds withinternational commitments. 18 The amendments among other things transferred the oversight of the
VR from the SEC entirely to the Ministry of Interior (MoI), extended the list of election campaign
misdemeanours and criminalized campaign funding from prohibited sources. The rules for opening
campaign finance accounts were clarified, in line with a prior ODIHR recommendation. However, anumber of recommendations remain unaddressed, including to conduct an audit of the VR, harmonize
the electoral legislation, reconsider the length of residence and legal competency requirements for
13

14

15

16
17
18

The outgoing parliament was constituted on 7 November 2016, thus its mandate was to expire on 6 November
2020. The new MPs were to be confirmed within 30 days from the 30 August elections, hence by 1 October, 36
days before the expiration of the mandate of the previous convocation.
The complaint was filed in June, after elections were called, by the NGO ‘Civic Alliance’ and was pending decision
after elections. The Constitution stipulates shortening of parliament’s mandate by majority vote of all MPs upon
proposal of the president, the government or at least 25 MPs; mandatory dissolution if the parliament fails to electthe government and optional dissolution in case it does not perform its duties for a prolonged period of time.
Other applicable legislation includes the laws on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns (2019),
on Political Parties (2004), on Public Assemblies and Public Events (2015), on Voter Register (VR, 2014), on
Media and relevant provisions of the Criminal Code, and the Law on Misdemeanours.
See the ODIHR and Venice Commission Urgent Joint Opinion on the draft law on election of members ofparliament and councillors published in July 2020.
The laws on VR, on Territorial Organization and relevant provisions of the Criminal Code were amended and a
new Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns (political finance law) was adopted.
For example, most of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) proposals, developed with international
support, were not incorporated, the Ministry of Finance did not participate in the preparation of the political financelaw, while the SEC was invited to participate only after the draft amendments to the Law on VR were finalised.
Paragraph 5.8 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document provides that legislation will be adopted at the end of apublic procedure.

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suffrage rights, enhance the measures against misuse of state resources, improve the regulations forcandidate registration and electoral dispute resolution.
Overall, the electoral legal framework provides sufficient regulations for democratic conduct ofelections. However, gaps, ambiguities and inconsistencies in the legal framework, including the lackof comprehensive SEC instructions, allow for selective implementation and circumvention. Gaps,
among others, pertain to provisions on verification of supporting signatures, liability of candidate list
submitters for falsified documents, sanctions for violations and tabulation of results. The rules on
invalidation of results allow for arbitrary decisions and the deadlines for challenging election day
irregularities and invalidating results extend beyond the deadline for final results. In addition, thedeadlines for provision of VR extracts to PBs are not aligned in the election law and the Law on VR.
Consideration should be given to undertaking a comprehensive reform to harmonize the electoral
legal framework and regulate all key aspects of the elections. In line with international commitments,
the reform process should be inclusive, ensure public discussion and should be completed well inadvance of the next elections.
Measures adopted as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, included a ban on public gatherings andpolitical rallies and affected the conduct of the elections. The measures were introduced by decisionsof the government and the Ministry of Health, following recommendations of the National
Coordination Body for Communicable Diseases (NCB). 19 However, there was no previous call of astate of emergency by parliament, as required by the Constitution. 20 Derogations on fundamental
freedoms without a state of emergency are at odds with international commitments. 21
The Constitution falls short of sufficiently regulating some issues pertaining to parliamentaryelections. Namely, while early elections shall be conducted only if parliament is dissolved or its
mandate is shortened, the Constitution is silent about the conditions that trigger the reduction of themandate. 22 In addition, it provides wide discretionary powers to the president on nomination of theprime minister and the formation of the new government, which may incur dissolution of theparliament, in case the nominated prime minister fails to obtain a vote of confidence. 23
19
20

21

22

23

The NCB was established in March 2020 to coordinate the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and recommends
actions and measures, including possible cancellation or postponement of the elections.
The Constitution permits derogations of human rights in cases of a state of emergency or war; allows for temporary
restrictions of the freedom of assembly due to threat to public health and in line with the law and stipulates that thedecision on the state of emergency is adopted by the majority of all MPs. The Law on Protection of the Populationfrom Infectious Diseases conditions the Ministry of Health to limit gatherings due to epidemiological situations
only after the announcement of a state of emergency by parliament. See also the 2020 ODIHR Report “OSCE
Human Dimension Commitments and State Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic” that cites Montenegro as lacking
sufficient parliamentary oversight over the COVID-19 pandemic related protection measures adopted bygovernment.
Paragraph 9.2 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document states that everyone will have the right of peacefulassembly and demonstration. Any restrictions which may be placed on the exercise of these rights will beprescribed by law and consistent with international standards; article 4(1) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) allows for derogation from human rights ‘[i]n time of public emergency [...] theexistence of which is officially proclaimed’; paragraph 25 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document requires that“measures derogating from [international human rights] obligations must be taken in strict conformity with theprocedural requirements laid down in those instruments” and prescribes an obligation to officially proclaim anstate of emergency.
While the Constitution stipulates that parliament may be dissolved in case the nominated PM after elections fails
to obtain a vote of confidence within 90 days, it does not mention any grounds for shortening the mandate of theparliament.
The Constitution does not require the president to nominate a prime minister from the party or coalition which won
most votes or has the parliamentary majority and does not provide for an alternative if the nominated prime minister
fails to obtain a vote of confidence.

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Consideration should be given to prescribing a precise list of grounds that trigger reduction ofparliamentary mandate and call of early elections.
V.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

Parliamentary elections were administered by a three-tiered election administration comprising theSEC, 24 Municipal Election Commissions (MECs) and 1,217 Polling Boards (PBs). SEC and MECs
are permanent bodies; PBs are appointed for each election. The SEC is composed of a chairpersonand 10 members; 24 MECs of a chairperson and four members. While the appointment method
provides for a balanced political representation in the SEC, a lack of pluralism can arise in thepermanent composition of MECs. 25 Each PB comprises a presiding officer and four members. 26
Authorized representatives of the contestants could join all election bodies 20 days prior to election
day, with full voting rights. All contestants appointed their representatives at the SEC and a varying
number of them at MEC level. 27 Women remained underrepresented in all levels of the election
administration. 28
The election administration managed efficiently the technical aspects of the electoral preparations
and met legal deadlines, with the exception of the appointment of PB members, which was delayed
by a few days in some municipalities. 29 However, the SEC instructions regarding the implementationof the election law remained incomplete, and some of the key decisions taken by SEC raised
concerns. 30 Notably, the SEC recommendations about the COVID-19 protection measures on election
day underwent several changes between their publication and election day, were difficult toimplement and some provisions were abrogated by the Constitutional Court as adopted beyond theSEC competence. 31
The SEC should address emerging challenges and aspects of the process that are not sufficiently
regulated by the statutory law by promulgating clear, consistent, timely and fully implementable
instructions and decisions within its mandate.
The SEC made most of its instructions and decisions available on its website, although not always ina timely manner. SEC sessions, however, were not open for representatives of media and were not

24
25

26
27
28

29
30

31

Four SEC members are nominated by the parliamentary majority, four by the opposition, one by the civil society
and one by the national minority party that won the highest number of votes in previous elections.
MECs chairpersons are nominated by the party that won most mandates in the given municipality in the previous
municipal elections; two members by the majority in the municipal council and two by the opposition, if any. In
Gusinje, Nikšić, Petnjica, Plav, Rožaje, Ulcinj and Tuzi all MEC members were nominated by the ruling coalition.
PB members are nominated by political parties and coalitions represented in the municipal assemblies; they may
be replaced by their nominating bodies up to 12 hours before the voting starts.
The number of appointed candidate representatives varied between two (Andrijevica and Žabljak), and eight(Podgorica, Nikšić, Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj). Only DPS nominated representatives to each MEC.
At the SEC, one member and one authorized representative were women. At the MECs, six chairpersons, and 41of the 120 permanent MEC members were women. According to data from the Center for Monitoring and Research(CeMI), some 24.6 per cent of PB members were women.
ODIHR LEOM noted delays in Cetinje and Kotor, due to the lack of applications by opposition parties.
Several NGO representatives criticized SEC with regards to some procurement decisions, including the printingof ballot papers, the software for the verification of support signature and the rent of premises. The ballots
procurement and premises rent contracts were subsequently challenged in the court.
The final version of the instruction was adopted late in the process which neither ensured legal certainty nor
allowed for voter awareness or a meaningful training of the PBs.

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broadcast online. The information published online by MECs, including on complaints againstelection day irregularities, was not always consistent and timely. 32
To further increase transparency and public confidence in the work of the election administration,
additional measures could be considered, including live online broadcast and access of media to SEC
sessions, as well as publication of all relevant documents produced by all levels of the election
administration, in a timely manner.
Due to the pandemic, PB members were trained through a video material produced by the SEC,
broadcasted on television and available online. The lack of an interactive component and the late start
limited the efficiency of the training, which negatively impacted the respect of procedures on election
day, especially during closing and counting.
To ensure consistent application of the election procedures, an efficient and comprehensive training
for all polling board members should be provided, including authorised representatives ofcontestants, with a focus on the counting procedures.
The voter information campaign conducted by the SEC mainly consisted of short videos broadcast
on television and general information available on its website in Montenegrin language. There was
no information available in sign language or formats easily accessible to persons with disabilities,
including subtitles or easy-to-read format materials.
VI.

VOTER REGISTRATIONThe right to vote is granted to every citizen at least 18 years of age on election day. Those declared
legally incapacitated by a court decision, including on the basis of intellectual or psychosocial
disability, may not vote, contrary to international standards. 33 At odds with international goodpractice, the Constitution provides the right to vote to citizens who have resided in the country for
two years, and the election law further restricts the right to those who were residents for two years
immediately before election day. 34
To allow for broader electoral participation on an equal basis, the legal capacity and residency
requirements for voting and standing for election should be reviewed in line with the international
standards and good practice.
Voter registration is passive. The VR is a permanent database maintained by the MoI, automatically
updated with information extracted from the registers of citizenship, residence, births and deaths.
Prior to election day, some 70,000 voters verified their entries in the VR electronically and via thededicated hotline, and the MoI received 7,884 requests for changes or corrections. The MoI finalised
32

33

34

The MEC in Kolašin did not publish any information about these elections on its website; four MECs (Bijelo Polje,
Petnjica, Plužine, Žabljak) published only partial information. Only five MECs (Andrijevica, Budva, Cetinje,
Mojkovac and Tivat) made available the minutes of all their sessions online.
Article 29 of Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) requires states to “guarantee to persons
with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others”. Arcticle 12 of
the CPRD requires states to “recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis withothers in all aspects of life. Paragraph 9.4 of the 2013 CRPD Committee’s Communication 4/2011 provides that“an exclusion of the right to vote on the basis of a perceived or actual psychosocial or intellectual disability,
including a restriction pursuant to an individualized assessment, constitutes discrimination on the basis of
disability.”
Paragraph I.1.1.c.iii of the Venice Commission Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters (Code of Good
Practice) states that “a length of residence requirement may be imposed on nationals solely for local or regional
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Page: 9the VR within the legal deadline and provided disaggregated registration data per municipality andpolling station. On 20 August, it announced the final number of registered voters at 540,026. 35
Parliamentary parties and the SEC have permanent online access to the VR. Accredited observerorganisations and authorized representatives of contestants have the right to inspect the VR online in
the pre-election period upon request. 36 While this access allows for a meaningful verification of theindividual entries, some ODIHR LEOM interlocutors criticized the legal provisions on dataprotection that prohibit the extraction and printing of the data stored in the VR. The MoI has madean effort to make the voter registration process more inclusive and transparent, including through thecreation of an expert team for monitoring the accuracy of the VR. Many ODIHR LEOM interlocutors
voiced concerns that the VR contains too many voters in comparison with the official census-based
population data, and a high number of citizens who de facto reside abroad. The MoI, in response,
pointed out that census-based population and VR figures do not permit a proper comparison, due tothe different methodology of processing the two sets of data. 37 By law, citizens living abroad maintaintheir resident status in the country, unless they request to be deregistered.
Two days prior to election day, the MoI carried out a computerized cross-checking of the fingerprints
attached to entries in the VR to demonstrate that the VR is free of systemic errors. The exercise
established that 528 voters share partially or fully identical fingerprints in the data base. Experts of
the MoI opined that this number is within the margin of error and attributed it to technical problems
occurring when voters provided fingerprints. The fingerprints identified were not inspected before
election day. 38 The planned improvement of the address system, foreseen by the December 2019
amendments of the Law on the Territorial Division was suspended due to the restrictions related tothe pandemic.
In order to enhance public trust in the Voter Register, the authorities should consider acomprehensive audit, for example through conducting field tests, and allow stakeholders to monitor
such exercise.
The SEC, upon consultation with the NCB and the Ministry of Health, issued recommendations
aiming at facilitating voting of citizens staying in private or institutional quarantine or hospitals due
to COVID-19. However, the unclear decision-making competences among the relevant authorities
resulted in recommendations that were not comprehensive, underwent several changes between their
publication and election day and were issued late. 39 Positively, in order to provide for a solution forvoters not having valid identification documents, the MoI expedited the issuance of IDs, while the
35

36

37

38

39

This constitutes a decrease of 1,206 since the call of the elections, and an increase of 7,427 since the 2018
presidential election. According to the MoI, the VR contains approximately 7,500 voters, who never had any ID
document issued by Montenegrin authorities after the independence in 2006.
They may request online access to the data stored in the VR but not to the documentation backing the changes inentries, which is not accessible on the grounds of personal data protection. According to the MoI, one citizen
observer group and seven contestants were granted online access to the VR.
The 2012 ODIHR Handbook for the Observation of Voter Registration states that: “it is possible, by statistical
calculations based on census data, to produce an estimate for the proportion of eligible citizens among the
population… and compare it with the official number of registered voters… However, such comparisons shouldbe treated cautiously due to the different natures of the exercises and methodologies applied for a census and for
population registration.”
The MoI has communicated to the ODIHR LEOM that all multiple fingerprints would undergo forensic
examination after election day. The highest number of identical fingerprints was reported from Bar (163) andPodgorica (73).
The recommendations were adopted on 7 August and amended on 10 August. The scope of applicability was
modified by the Constitutional Court decisions of 20 and 24 August, the NCB recommendations of 25 August andthe Ministry of Health instruction of 27 August. Only voters in quarantine who had tested positive could request
mobile voting while other voters in quarantine received by the Ministry of Health a one-time waiver to vote inpolling stations.

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SEC extended the possibility of voting for voters with expired documents, provided that these arerecognised by the electronic identification devices at polling stations.
After elections, the Agency for Personal Data Protection initiated inspection of the software
maintained by a political party for identifying voters living abroad and registered in the VR. 40 It
concluded that the use of this software was unlawful, as it stored and processed personal data without
permission of the concerned individuals and by an entity not entitled to process such data.
VII.

CANDIDATE REGISTRATION

All voters are eligible to stand as candidates. Political parties, coalitions and groups of voters may
nominate candidate lists. The law prescribes a gender quota of at least 30 per cent and placement
rules as a prerequisite for registration. 41 Additionally, candidate lists were to include at least 54
candidates and to be supported by a minimum of 4,261 voters’ signatures. 42 Lists representing
national minorities were required to contain at least 27 candidates and to submit 1,000 supporting
signatures (300 for those representing a minority constituting up to two per cent of the population).
Contrary to international good practice and previous ODIHR recommendations, a voter may sign insupport of only one list. 43
To further promote pluralism in electoral process, consideration could be given to removing the
restriction to sign in support of only one candidate list.
A total of 12 applications were submitted by the 4 August deadline and the SEC registered 11 lists.
Out of 778 candidates, 268 were women. Only the SDP list was headed by a female candidate.The
registration of the lists was overall inclusive; however, the lack of clear criteria for the determinationof the national minority status of the lists prompted the SEC to use wide discretionary powers tointerpret and implement the law. Namely, the SEC denied registration to a list which claimed torepresent the ‘Yugoslav community’, arguing that they did not qualify as a minority in the sense of
the Law on Rights and Freedoms of Minorities, due to the absence of legally prescribed cultural
determinants. 44
To ensure equal and fair representation of national minorities, the election legislation should provide
clear guidance on criteria while determining the national minority status of candidate lists, andensure that the special provisions for national minority lists cannot be abused.
The verification of voters’ signatures supporting candidate lists is not sufficiently regulated. The SEC
requested the IT department of the parliament to enter the data of all signatories in a database andcross-check them against the VR. Of the 131,855 submitted signatures, 19,558 were declared invalid
on the grounds that the data provided was incomplete, the voter supported multiple lists, or thesignatory was not a registered voter. The SEC established a web application allowing voters to checkif their signatures appear in the database. A total of 24 voters alleged that their signatures were forgedin support of some lists. The SEC eliminated these signatures from the database, however, only after

40
41
42
43

44

Namely by the New Serbian Democracy which is coalition partner of the ‘For the Future of Montenegro’.
At least one of each group of four candidates on a list must belong to the underrepresented gender.
The required support signatures equals 0.8 per cent of the registered voters at the last elections of any kind.
Paragraph 77 of the 2010 ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation recommends
that “in order to enhance pluralism and freedom of association, legislation should not limit a citizen to signing a
supporting list of only one party. Such a limitation is too easily abused and can lead to the disqualification ofparties who in good faith believed they had fulfilled the requirements for registration.”In the 2011 census, 1,154 citizens declared themselves Yugoslavs.

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Page: 11the candidate registration process had been completed. Similar complaints were filed to prosecutor,
who initiated two cases.
To safeguard the integrity of candidate registration, consideration could be given to providing clear
criteria for signature verification, and adequate and timely sanctions for violations.
VIII. ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN
The campaign was competitive with a range of contestants promoting certain national identities andgeopolitical orientations. Most visible competition was between the long-ruling DPS and threeopposition coalitions. 45 The ruling party presented these elections as the most important in the historyof Montenegro with a potential of reversing the pro-Western direction and independence of thecountry if the opposition wins. The opposition aimed to mobilize the voters to end the thirty-year
domination of DPS, what they regarded as resulting in endemic corruption and state capture. The
Law on Freedom of Religion became the most central theme of the campaign and the opposition
coalition ‘For the Future of Montenegro’ effectively used the adoption of this law and religious
rhetoric and symbols to campaign and mobilize the voters. 46
While prospective contestants could start campaigning after the call of elections on 20 June, all publicgatherings, including political rallies, were banned from 25 June until 23 July and from 7 until 10
August, based on pandemic-related measures. 47 Due to these restrictions and public health concerns,
the contestants significantly modified their campaigns focusing on online media and social networks
rather than physical campaigning. However, door-to-door canvassing, campaign buses and cars,
billboards and smaller gatherings were also used. After the ban on public assemblies was lifted, thepermissible number of participants in political rallies remained limited and no large-scale politicalrallies were observed.
The campaign was generally peaceful, despite some protests. The opponents largely aimed at
discrediting each other, using at times confrontational language, rather than presenting campaign
programs. The supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) with participation of some
opposition parties, organized car processions and religious marches throughout the country, after theban on public gatherings was lifted. 48 The SOC was significantly involved in the campaign and, with
their actions and statements, confronted the ruling party. 49 On 17 August, the NCB defined thegatherings “organized by SOC and certain political actors” as “the greatest threat to re-escalation of
infection and thus to public health.” 50 The SOC denied organizing any gatherings. On 23 August, a
car procession from several regions to Podgorica was temporarily blocked by police. On 24 August,the police filed criminal charges against the leader of the ‘For the Future of Montenegro’ list and five
priests from SOC for not complying with public health protocols during a campaign event.
Subsequently, misdemeanour charges were brought against 67 persons, while criminal charges were
45
46
47

48
49
50

‘For the Future of Montenegro’ led by DF, ‘Peace is our Nation’ led by Democrats, and ‘In Black on White’ led
by URA.
During the campaign, the leader of the opposition list visited churches and monasteries including in Nikšić,Žabljak, Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Plužine, Zeta, Bar, Kotor, Gusinje, Pljevlja.
From 25 June to 23 July there was a ban on public gatherings; from 23 July to 7 August, public attendance waslimited to 40 persons outdoors and 20 indoors; from 7 to 10 August political rallies were banned; after 10 August
public attendance in political rallies was limited to 50 persons indoors and 100 outdoors.
The ODIHR LEOM observed marches on several occasions including in Žabljak, Podgorica, Kotor, Pljevlja, Bar
and Berane, whereby participants often carried Serbian flags.
On 11 June, the Head of the SOC in Montenegro, called on voters not to vote for parties that supported the Law
on Freedom of Religion and on 19 August, he reiterated his statement while calling on Montenegrins to go to vote.
On 14 August, a march was held in Berane with around 2,000 people, attended also by the coalitions ‘Peace is our
Nation’ and ‘For the Future of Montenegro’, exceeding the permissible number for attendants.

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filed against 11 persons. Ahead of elections, the political tension was rising, while on the election
day, the leaders of the SOC and the opposition (DF and Democrats) called on citizens not to organize
any public gatherings and to stay at home.
At odds with paragraph 7.7 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document and international good practice,various forms of misuse of office and state resources gave the ruling party an undue advantage in the
campaign and could unduly influence the will of the voters. 51 Notably, members of the government
inaugurated a number of public infrastructure projects across the country, with public attendance. 52
Although not a candidate, the president, as the head of DPS, was a key figure in the campaign andextensively participated in campaign and institutional events. 53 Notably, on 28 August, the president
spoke at an event celebrating 110th anniversary of the Kingdom of Montenegro in the historic capital
Cetinje. These events received extensive coverage in the media and on the social networks campaign
accounts of the ruling party. In spite of the election silence, the prime-minister tweeted on the election
day praising the government’s achievements.
During the election period, extraordinary welfare benefits were allocated by the government with
unclear and allegedly subjective criteria to groups identified as ‘vulnerable’; additional benefits wereallocated for pensioners. 54 Several ODIHR LEOM interlocutors noted that the undue advantage ofthe ruling party was accentuated by the persistent, systematic practice of offer of state employment
in exchange for support. 55 A legal ban on public recruitment after the call of elections wascircumvented by new temporary employment contracts. The Agency for Prevention of Corruption(APC) initiated a number of cases of possible misuse of state resources and violations of thelegislation on state employment. 56 Some ODIHR LEOM interlocutors also alleged vote buying
practices, including in Roma settlements, and sponsoring of travel expenses of diaspora voters. 57

51

52

53

54

55
56

57

Paragraph 7.7 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document calles for “political campaigning to be conducted in a fair andfree atmosphere in which neither administrative action, violence nor intimidation bars the parties and thecandidates from freely presenting their views and qualifications, or prevents the voters from learning anddiscussing them or from casting their vote free of fear of retribution”. See paragraphs 4.2 and B.1.1, B.1.2 andB.1.4 of the Venice Commission and ODIHR Joint Guidelines for Preventing and Responding to the Misuse of
Administrative Resources during Electoral Processes; and 1-33 of the Venice Commission Report on Misuse of
Administrative Resources during Electoral Processes.
From 6 until 26 August, public officials attended some 50 institutional events; the president attended 10 events,
Prime Minister -14, Minister of Agriculture -7, Mayor of Podgorica - 5, Minister of Health - 4, Minister of Culture2, Mayor of Cetinje - 2. In the same period, various public officials held 25 inaugurations of public infrastructure
and private business (roads, school, kindergarten, faculty supermarket, day-care facilities, mini sport field, hotel,
creative hub, youth center, factory etc), 11 visits to municipalities, 8 meetings with local entrepreneurs and 5 visits
to hospitals.
For example, from 11 until 25 August, the president inaugurated reconstruction of roads in Gusinje and Pljevlja, ahospital in Cetinje, the highway Cetinje-Čevo-Nikšić, construction of tourism facilities (Portonovi, Kumbor), a
supermarket in Danilovgrad, a factory Uniprom Kap in Podgorica, the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cetinje, and visitedthe pensioners’ associations in Kolašin; he also spoke at DPS campaign events, including in Zeta, Stara Varoš,
Cetinje, Pljevlja, Kotor, Podgorica and Nikšić. The Constitution prohibits the president from performing any other‘public duty’, wihout specifying which these public duties are.
Welfare allowances were distributed from the state budget through the local administrations. On 17 July, the Law
on Pension and Disability Insurance was amended to allow for such additional benefits. In July and August, theexpenditure from the budgetary reserve was over EUR 34.5 million. Of this amount, EUR 10.4 million was
allocated for extraordinary social benefits. In the same period in 2019 total budgetary reserve expenditure was
EUR 7.3 million.
The 2019 EU Progress Report on Montenegro states that “strong political will is still needed to effectively address
the de-politicization of the public service.”
The Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) initiated 293 inspections on the use of state resources in the
campaign, 123 on violations of monthly spending restrictions and 101 on violation of employment restrictions
during the campaign. ODIHR LEOM interlocutors in Berane, Rožaje, Žabljak alleged that temporary andpermanent contracts were offered after the call of elections.
For example, in Budva, Nikšić, Kotor, Berane, in the form of food and money offers.

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Some cases of alleged pressure on voters, including public employees, to vote for the ruling party
were noted; 58 the prosecutor initiated ex officio two cases. 59
To prevent the misuse of office and state resources, additional legal safeguards could be considered.
The authorities should ensure that the election campaign is conducted in an atmosphere free from
intimidation and fear of retribution and undertake measures to prevent pressure on voters, including
employees of state or state-affiliated institutions. Any instances and allegations of pressure shouldbe thoroughly investigated and prosecuted by relevant authorities, and the outcomes should be
publicly reported.
IX.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Campaign finance is regulated by the 2019 Law on Financing Political Entities and Election
Campaigns (political finance law). 60 Positively, the new law defined the campaign activities under
its scope and disallowed some commercial activities of political parties. Amendments to the Criminal
Code criminalized funding from prohibited sources. Amendments adopted in April 2020 legalized
the distribution of welfare benefits in an election year in case of pandemic.
The legal framework maintains gaps and conflicting provisions, undermining legal certainty. Absenceof sanctions for inaccurate reporting limits the effectiveness of oversight. 61 The law also lacks
regulation for the use of loans and comprehensive methodology for evaluation of in-kind donations. 62
There is a sanction for early campaigning, but the law fails to clearly define the activities that
constitute early campaigning. At odds with international good practice, the contestants are able todeclare any income to their campaign fund as coming from their regular party account without
disclosing the origins of such contributions. 63 There is general public mistrust in the campaign financeregulatory system, as currently implemented, and despite some improvements, the legal framework
does not establish effective safeguards against corruption or circumvention of campaign financerules. 64

58

59

60
61

62
63

64

Three military servicemen reported to the ODIHR LEOM that they were relocated and downgraded allegedly for
self-declaring as Serbs, being followers of the SOC and refusing to support DPS. On 15 August, the servicemen
filed relevant complaints with the court.
Two leaked audio recordings suggest that the ruling party's approval and the applicant's will to vote for DPS wererequested from individuals to be employed at a public service. Another audio-recording captured the plannedpurchase of four voter ID cards by DPS.
Supplemented by the APC instructions.
Paragraph 215 of the ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation states that
“Irregularities in financial reporting […]should result in the loss of all or part of such funds for the party. Other
available sanctions may include the payment of administrative fines by the party.” Paragraph 224 of the ODIHR
and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation states that “Sanctions should be applied topolitical parties found in violation of relevant laws. Sanctions at all times must be objective, enforceable, effective
and proportionate to their specific purpose”. Article 16 of Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Rec(2003)4 On common rules against corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns stipulates
that “States should require the infringement of rules concerning the funding of political parties and electoral
campaigns to be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.”
The regulation allows contestants to calculate the average price of gratuitous services at their discretion. In
addition, the discounts are not reported as donations.
Paragraphs 202 and 203 of the ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation statethat “all disclosure reports should be produced on a consolidated basis to include all levels of party activities” andthat “the nature and value of all donations received by a political party should be identified in financial reports.”
See Article 7 of the UN Convention against Corruption. In 2019, Montenegro was placed 66 on the Transparency
International Corruption Perception Index, scoring 45 of 100. Some Council of Europe Group of States Against
Corruption (GRECO) recommendations remain unaddressed. See Article 7 of the UN Convention against
Corruption.

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Page: 14The law should be reviewed to address gaps and ambiguities, including regulating the use of loans,developing a comprehensive methodology for evaluation of in-kind donations and defining theactivities that constitute prohibited early campaigning.
Parliamentary political parties are entitled to annual public funding. 65 In line with the law, additional
public funding totalling EUR 2.3 million was allocated for the election campaign. As required, 20 per
cent of these funds, namely EUR 473,561, were distributed in equal amounts among all contestantson 14 August. The remainder had to be disbursed after elections among elected contestants
proportionally to the number of seats won after submission of their final campaign finance reports,
provided no financial sanctions for irregularities had been imposed by the APC. For 2020, thecompensation for each parliamentary mandate won amounted to EUR 23,386.
Election campaigns can be also financed from monetary and in-kind donations from individuals andlegal entities, loans and party funds. The new law increased donations from individuals from EUR
2,000 to EUR 5,000 and for legal entities from EUR 10,000 to EUR 20,000. 66 Several ODIHR LEOM
interlocutors opined that the expenditure limit of EUR 2.3 million remains unreasonably high,allowing for excessive spending with potentially undue influence on the will of voters. 67
The APC is tasked with the oversight of campaign finance as well as the use of state resources ofpublic institutions, including their possible misuse for campaign purposes. As of 23 August, the APC
announced that campaign accounts were opened by all contestants, as legally required. Whilecontestants had to report on received donations every 15 days from the start of the campaign, most ofthem did not report any. 68 The APC verified the legality of 706 donations by requesting the Ministryof Justice and the Ministry of Finance to verify if the donors were involved in organised crime or
public procurement. The APC did not publish the results of the verification.
To improve accountability, an effective mechanism could be considered to enable the APC to directly
cross-check donors against a database for public procurement contractors and law enforcement
databases and to identify multiple donations by a single donor.
Within the 25 August deadline, all contestants submitted their interim expenditure reports. 69 The APC
published the reports but no conclusions, as this is not explicitly required by law. In line withestablished practice, the APC contracted a private agency to collect information on campaign
expenditures, including monitoring and documenting of the print, broadcast and online media and

65
66
67

68

69

In 2020, the public funding for parliamentary parties amounted to EUR 9 million. While additional public funding
is provided for the rental of party premises of their choice, the funding procedure and price limits are not regulated.
Legal entities that donated to a party or campaign may not participate in public tenders for four years.
See paragraphs 195 and 196 of the ODIHR and Venice Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation“Reasonable limitations on campaign expenditures might be justified where this is necessary to ensure that the freechoice of voters is not undermined or the democratic process distorted by the disproportionate expenditure on
behalf of any candidate or political party” and “The maximum spending limit usually consists of an absolute sum
or a relative sum determined by factors such as the voting population in a particular constituency and the costs for
campaign materials and services.”
Prior to elections, DPS reported 643 individual donations totalling EUR 500,552 and ‘For the Future ofMontenegro’ 51 donations worth EUR 181,448. Seven contestants did not report any donations. The NGO MANS
reported that most donations to DPS were made on the same day by public employees and members of municipal
councils, often in amounts exceeding their monthly earnings. Paragraph 210 of the ODIHR and Venice
Commission Guidelines on Political Party Regulation states that “Public employees (civil servants) should not be
required by a political party to make payments to the party. This is a practice the law should prohibit as an abuseof state resources.”
The highest expenditures were reported by the SD in the amount of some EUR 300,000, ‘For the Future ofMontenegro’-EUR 242,000, DPS -EUR 230,200, ‘Peace is Our Nation’- EUR 185,000 and SDP -EUR 85,200.

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Page: 15social networks, the use of billboards and rallies. 70 According to several ODIHR LEOM interlocutors,some political parties ensured that their campaign contracts allowed for late payment from the publicfunding allocated after elections. 71 Such practices do not safeguard against exceeding the campaign
expenditure limits and hinder transparency. Some interlocutors alleged largely unequal financial
capacities of the contestants, due to the access of the ruling DPS to state resources, preferential accessto public premises for campaign events and public media space for promotion, as well as pressure on
voters, including for receiving contributions. The choice of contractors by some parties was seen as
cronyism and an opportunity to prove parties’ loyalty to the authorities.
The contestants submitted final campaign finance reports by 29 September. These were published on
the APC website in a user-friendly format. 72 The reporting template disclosed donors, contractors
and beneficiaries, displayed the status of payments and expenditures disaggregated per categories,
but not the total amounts of incomes and expenditures. 73 While the APC is obliged to issue its
conclusions on campaign finances two months after the announcement of election results, the reports
are audited by the National Audit Office (NAO) only in the year following the elections. 74
Furthermore, the reporting template for annual party reports adopted in 2012 and used by the NAO
has not been reviewed to reflect the changes introduced by the new law. 75
To ensure transparency, accountability and integrity of campaign finance, the law should be amended
to prescribe effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and to provide for an explicit obligationof the oversight body to identify and publish the information on inaccuracies, including unreported
incomes and expenditures.
X.

MEDIA

A.

MEDIA ENVIRONMENT

A high number of diverse media outlets operate in a financially limited advertising market. 76 While
television is still the primary source of political information, younger voters rely on digital sources.
Many ODIHR LEOM interlocutors voiced concerns that media dependence on political and business
70

71
72

73
74
75

76

The APC has been co-operating with the media monitoring agency Arhimed since 2016 and renewed its contract
in January 2020 after a public call but without competition. The agency reports on its findings to the APC on a 10day basis. The same agency is employed by the majority of political parties for their marketing strategy research.
The law requires all campaign payments to be made from the campaign account, but allows for liabilities andpayments after closing the campaign accounts, i.e., from the regular party accounts.
DPS reported donations totalling EUR 496,452, party funds – EUR 650,000 and expenditure – EUR 848,303; ‘For
the Future of Montenegro’ donations totalling EUR 195,693, party funds –EUR 211,000 and expenditure – EUR
1.5 million (including EUR 1.1 million for media advertising, of which 50 per cent paid almost equally to TV
Vijesti and TV Pink); ‘In Black on White’ reported public and party funds of EUR 104,000 and expenditure EUR
190,000. ‘Peace is Our Nation’ – income of EUR 156,551 (including EUR 113,500 party funds) and expenditureof EUR 640,000; SDP income – EUR 235,248 and expenditure EUR 227,442; SD – income EUR 302,725 (ofwhich 250,000 bank loan) and expenditure - EUR 385,403. BS reported relying on public funds, and expenditureof EUR 43,000.
Expenditures were attributed mostly to campaign materials, traditional and online media advertising and billboards.
NAO audits the campaign finance reports only with the regular political party finance annual audits, which fails tocover campaign finances of contestants nominated by the groups of voters.
The template, inter alia, does not reflect the newly introduced limitations on political parties' commercial activities,
such as operations with real estate and shares. The campaign finance section only requires a total value of budgetaryfunds and donations without categorization, it does not require disclosure of loans or party funds used for the
campaign, discounts or in-kind donations.
Besides public Radio Televizija Crne Gore (RTCG), 5 local public television and 14 radio stations, the Agency forElectronic Media (AEM) has licensed 3 commercial television stations with nation-wide coverage, 14 local
television stations, 35 radios, and has registered 82 online media outlets.

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interests undermines editorial autonomy, investigative journalism and genuine pluralism. 77 Thus, themedia landscape reflects the political polarization and, according to ODIHR LEOM interlocutors,
leads to self-censorship by journalists. In addition, some media and civil society representatives
reported to the ODIHR LEOM on the non-transparent and biased allocation of public and private
advertising to pro-ruling party media outlets. 78
According to the ODIHR LEOM interlocutors from the media sector, the lack of independence of the
Public Service Broadcaster Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) and of the regulator Agency
for Electronic Media (AEM) undermines their ability to ensure that balanced and comprehensive
information is provided to the public by media. 79 The new Media Law, which came into force on 13
August, aims to address some of these issues, including by enhancing the transparency of media
ownership, public funding and allocation of public advertising, and creating a public fund for media
pluralism. A new law on the Public Service Broadcaster also came into force on the same day. The
law contains transparency provisions on ownership and editorial responsibility, allocation of publicfunding and state advertising to media outlets and the creation of a public fund to enhance media
pluralism.
Defamation of individuals was decriminalized in 2011. However, there are still a number of criminaland other provisions in the existing legislation that are contrary to international standards on freedomof expression, including the ‘defamation of the reputation of Montenegro’, ‘insult in public space’and ‘causing panic by the dissemination of false news’. 80 Since the beginning of 2020, at least 24
citizens, including three journalists, have been detained and in at least five cases criminal proceedings
were initiated based on these provisions; including at least 14 individuals detained for information
posted or shared on social networks. 81
Provisions on defamation and false information which are contrary to international standards on
freedom of expression should be removed from the legislation.
B.

LEGAL FRAMEWORKThe election law and the Law on Electronic Media contain general provisions on campaign coverageby broadcasters. As required by the law, on 26 June the AEM adopted its rulebook that provides for
77
78
79

80

81

See Montenegro Media Sector Inquiry with Recommendations for Harmonisation with the Council of Europe andEuropean Union standards, 2017, pp. 20-22.
See the 2019 EU Progress Report on Montenegro and Montenegro Media Sector Inquiry with Recommendationsfor Harmonisation with the Council of Europe and European Union standards, 2017, pp. 70-72 .
In 2017 and 2018, two RTCG Council members, the RTCG General Director, the Director of RTCG Television
and an AEM Council member were dismissed. Four of these cases were ruled unlawful by courts. The decisions
regarding the dismissal of the two Directors were confirmed by the Supreme Court. However, on 27 June 2019,
the Supreme Court issued a Principal Legal Position that the election, appointment or dismissal of public officials
by parliament may not be challenged in an administrative dispute or in civil proceedings, except when explicitly
provided by law. Following an appeal of one of these rulings, the initial decision was annulled and returned to thefirst instance court, which denied jurisdiction. A decision by the second instance court is pending.
Articles 198 and 398 of the Criminal Code penalize ‘public mockery of Montenegro, its flag, coat of arms, oranthem’ with a fine or up to one year of imprisonment and ‘causing panic by the dissemination of false news’ withup to three years of imprisonment, if committed using media. Article 7 of the Law on Public Order and Peacepunishes ‘harsh insult in public space’ with a fine of EUR 250-1,000 or imprisonment of up to 30 days. On 24
January, the NGO ‘Human Rights Action’ filed an initiative to the Constitutional Court to review theconstitutionality of Article 398. Article 19.3 of the ICCPR requires that permissible restrictions on the right tofreedom of expression must be provided by law. UNHCR General Comment 34 on Article 19 requires that ‘a norm,
to be characterized as a law, must be formulated with sufficient precision to enable an individual to regulate his or
her conduct accordingly’.
See the report Monitoring of freedom of expression and the right to privacy during COVID-19 outbreak of theNGO ‘Human Rights Action’.

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Page: 17equal conditions for contestants and for “truthful, timely and impartial” information to voters. The
RTCG and municipal public broadcasters have to provide an equal amount of free airtime.
Political advertising, both in public and commercial media, should be clearly separated in programme
blocks and labelled as such. The same rules apply to the coverage of contestants’ campaign in thenews.
Complaints related to campaign coverage are filed with the relevant broadcaster and referred to the
AEM only if the broadcaster does not issue a satisfactory decision. While complaints filed to the
AEM by contestants must be reviewed within 24 hours, the deadline for complaints filed by otherstakeholders is 30 days, which does not ensure a timely remedy prior to election day. The AEM
informed that it did not receive any appeals from contestants during the campaign period; six
complaints filed by other stakeholders were dismissed and the decisions were published only at theend of the campaign period. 82
To ensure a prompt remedy of media disputes during the electoral campaign, the law should be
amended to prescribe that complaints by all stakeholders should be filed and reviewed within shorttimeframes. The AEM should consider acting ex officio upon possible irregularities, in a timely
manner.
C.

MEDIA MONITORING FINDINGS

Click Here to Read Media Monitoring Results

The results of the ODIHR LEOM media monitoring reflect the lack of independence of broadcasters
and their polarization. 83 The lack of editorial coverage undermined the quality of information
available to voters. Reportedly, footage from campaign events was, in most cases, produced by thecontestants themselves and presented by the media for free, including in the news programmes; thispractice de facto equates it with political advertising without labelling it as such. In addition, ODIHRLEOM interlocutors noted that the coverage of institutional events held by incumbent contestants,
including inaugurations, was often produced by the government itself and again presented for freeand part of the news and current affairs. Media coverage of events based almost excusively on thecontent provided by contestants and the government, takes editorial responsibility off journalists, thus
undermines journalism as such, and does not contribute to providing voters with analyticalinformation.
Additional effort could be made by broadcasters to improve the quality of editorial coverage of thecampaign and to develop their own electoral content rather than using footage provided bycontestants.
The RTCG1 generally complied with its legal obligation to provide an equal amount of free airtime
to contestants. 84 The monitored commercial television stations displayed bias in their campaign
coverage. While TV Vijesti devoted the majority of its coverage (25 per cent) to the ruling DPS, 31
per cent of it was in a negative tone. TV Nova M and TV Prva devoted 79 and 39 per cent respectively

82

83

84

Five complaints were filed by the NGO ‘Media Center’, mostly alleging disproportionate airtime given to public
officials in prime time news on RTCG and TV Prva. On 28 August 2020, the AEM rejected these complaints
ruling that the disputed news coverage did not contain any hidden campaign advertising in favour of contestants.
Starting from 6 August, the ODIHR LEOM conducted monitoring of the RTCG1, TV Nova M, TV Prva, and TV
Vijesti, broadcasters. It also followed election-related content in five online media outlets: the CDM, Vijesti,
Analitika, Fos Media and IN4S.
Each contestant was entitled to three minutes of campaign coverage immediately after the two prime time news
programs, to minimum 200 seconds of free advertising spots daily, and equal participation in at least two debates
per week. RTCG reported that some contestants did not provide sufficient material to fill all of the free airtime.

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to the DPS, overwhelmingly in positive or neutral tone. 85 Government representatives were regularly
covered in their official capacity in prime time news on RTCG1, overwhelmingly in a positive tone,
which effectively gave the ruling party an advantage. Commercial TV Nova M and TV Prva also
regularly covered government officials in the news in a vastly positive tone. At the same time TV
Vijesti covered the government officials mostly (63 per cent of the coverage) in a negative tone.
In the course of the campaign, RTCG1 and TV Vijesti broadcasted four and five debates, respectively.
While all contestants were represented on the debates on RTCG1, DPS refused to participate in thedebates on TV Vijesti. The discussions held during the debates provided an important platform forpresentation of contestants’ positions on such topics as economy, foreign policy, health, educationand human rights. In news, electoral campaign coverage and discussion programmes on monitored
television stations women politicians received 20 per cent less coverage comparing to men. 86
The monitored online media outlets also displayed significant bias in their political coverage during
the campaign. While all portals devoted a majority of space to the ruling DPS, the tone disclosed
clear bias. 87
XI.

PARTICIPATION OF NATIONAL MINORITIESThe Constitution guarantees the equality of all citizens and provides for full political, civil, and social
rights for the persons belonging to national minorities. 88 It recognizes Montenegrins, Serbs, Bosniaks,
Albanians, Muslims, Croats and “others” as “peoples and national minorities” who live inMontenegro.
Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats are well-represented in politics by their corresponding national
minority political parties, and they are also integrated, as voters, members and candidates, in major
political parties. 89 While most of the non-minority political parties commonly present themselves as‘civic’ and inclusive of all minority groups, national minority parties appeal to their corresponding
communities. A total of 10 minority parties and civic organizations contested these elections either
independently or in coalitions. 90 Two coalitions comprising seven parties represented the Albaniannational minority and one party the Bosniak population. For the first time, a second Croat national
minority party was running. Some 6.8 per cent of the ballot papers were bilingual (in Montenegrin
and Albanian) for polling stations in municipalities with significant number of Albanians.
85

86

87

88
89

90

TV Vijesti devoted 23 per cent to ‘Peace is our Nation’, 18 to ‘For the Future of Montenegro’, 14 to ‘In Black on
White’ and 9 to SD respectively, predominantly in a positive or neutral tone. All other contestants received lessthan 8 per cent of coverage. TV Nova M devoted to all other contestants less than 10 per cent of coverage. TV Prva
devoted 15 per cent to ‘Peace is our Nation’, 12 to ‘For the Future of Montenegro’ and 10 to SD and SDP each.
In the debates broadcasted by RTCG1 and TV Vjiesti, only 15 and 19 percent of the invited interlocutors were
women, In the news only 3, 12, 2 and 10 per cent of the coverage on RTCG1, TV Nova M, TV Prva and TV Vjesti
were given to female political actors, including candidates, respectively. Only 4, 8 and 11 per cent of theircampaign coverage was devoted to women on the TV Nova M, TV Prva and TV Vjiesti respectively.
Analitika, CDM, FOS Media, In4s and Vijesti devoted 60, 49, 51, 43 and 45 per cent of coverage respectively tothe ruling DPS. While on Analitika and CDM at least 90 per cent of that coverage was in a positive and neutral
tone, on FOS Media, In4s and Vijesti 23, 95 and 44 per cent was in a negative tone.
According to the last census of 2011, Montenegrins comprise 45 per cent of the population, Serbs 28 per cent,Bosniaks – 8, Albanians – 5, Muslims – 3, Roma – 1 and Croats around 0.9 per cent.
In the outgoing government, BS had three ministers, including one Deputy PM, and DUA (Albanian minority
party) and HGI (Croat minority party) - one minister each. The vice-president of parliament was from Forca(Albanian minority party).
Namely, the Albanian coalition ‘Unanimously’ (Democratic Party, Democratic Union of Albanians, Democratic
Union in Montenegro); the ‘Albanian List Genci Nimanbegu - Nik Djeljosaj-’ (Albanian Alternative, FORCA,
Democratic Association of Albanian, Tuzi Union and Civic Initiative Perspektiva); the Bosniak Party (BS); theCroatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and the Croatian Reform Party (HRS).

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The Roma community did not have a minority party and was not represented in parliament. They
have limited access to voter education due to lack of targeted awareness programmes provided byauthorities. Roma representatives complained that, unlike some other minorities, they are not entitledto a reserved seat in parliament. The ODIHR LEOM received allegations of vote buying andintimidation of members of the Roma community. 91 On a few occasions, verbal and physical attacks
against members of national minorities were noted. 92 Both ruling and opposition parties denounced
the insulting messages and urged the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.
XII.

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Voters, candidates and submitters of candidate lists can file complaints to election commissions andthe courts. SEC decisions can be appealed to the Constitutional Court. Voters are entitled to challenge
violations only of their individual voting rights before the Constitutional Court, which deprives themof a possibility to challenge, among other things, candidate registration and the election results, atodds with international good practice. 93 Complaints on voter registration are filed to the MoI andreviewed at the Administrative Court, until ten days prior to the election day.
To ensure effective remedy, consideration should be given to extending the rights of voters to filecomplaints on all aspects of the electoral process, including the possibility to challenge election
results.
By law, in case of irregularities affecting the election results, the Constitutional Court may decide toinvalidate election results, entirely or partly. However, the SEC opined that the announcement of
tabulated election results by MECs and the SEC does not constitute formal MEC and SEC decisions
and therefore may not be appealed. This narrow interpretation of the law, contrary to international
good practice, deprives stakeholders, including contestants, of the opportunity to challenge the results
and significantly undermines the effectiveness of dispute resolution. 94
In addition, there are ambiguous legal provisions on the invalidation of polling station results forelection day irregularities. Namely, the law lists 13 grounds for optional invalidation of results; 95 and

91
92
93

94

95

These were received in Budva, Nikšić, Kotor, Berane. ODIHR LEOM interlocutors informed about threats toRoma community in Nikšić for their support to the ruling party.
On 9 August, graffiti insulting a national minority was noted on a number of houses in Berane. On the eve ofelections, the police in Berane detained a person suspected of inciting ethnic hatred on social networks.
Paragraph II.3.3.f of the Code of Good Practice states that ‘all candidates and all voters registered in theconstituency concerned must be entitled to appeal. A reasonable quorum may be imposed for appeals by voters on
the results of elections’. In the case of Davydov and others v Russia (application no. 75947/11; 13/11/2017), theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stated that “serious irregularities in the process of counting andtabulation of votes can constitute a breach of the individual right to free elections guaranteed under Article 3 ofProtocol No. 1 to the Convention, in both its active and its passive aspects.”
Paragraph II.3.3.e of the Code of Good Practice states that “the appeal body must have authority to annul elections
where irregularities may have affected the outcome. It must be possible to annul the entire election or merely the
results for one constituency or one polling station.”
Optional invalidation is prescribed in cases of multiple and proxy voting, casting a non-certified ballot, presenceof armed person in the PS, failure of a voter to sign the voter list (VL) upon receipt of a ballot, campaign materials
displayed at the PS or within 100 meters, PB members influencing voters, failure of a PB to explain the voting
procedure upon a voter’s request or to ensure undisturbed voting, absence of some PB members or their deputies
during voting, failure of the PS setting to ensure the secrecy of vote, overcrowding and presence of unauthorised
persons.

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eight grounds for mandatory invalidation. 96 The MECs have wide discretionary powers to decide
whether to invalidate results and repeat elections, which does not safeguard against inconsistent or
arbitrary decisions. 97 Some irregularities imply the involvement of law enforcement, which lacks
expedited criminal proceedings, despite previous ODIHR recommendations. The law conditions
requests for invalidations of PB results upon having recorded the alleged irregularity in the PB
protocol, which safeguards against post factum claims for irregularities.
To prevent arbitrary application and ensure effective remedy the provisions on challenging andinvalidation of election results established by the PBs should be reviewed. The law should be
amended to prescribe that the decisions on preliminary results may be appealed, including up to thehighest level courts.
Despite previous ODIHR recommendations, the election law does not prescribe procedures forhandling election complains and the SEC did not issue any guidance on this matter. The SEC did not
maintain a publically available complaints register, and no complaint template was elaborated,
contrary to international good practice. 98 In addition, the SEC, MECs and the Constitutional Court
did not publish all their decisions on complaints, undermining transparency of election dispute
resolution. 99 The Constitutional Court does not hold public sessions, at odds with the Constitution
and international standards and despite previous ODIHR recommendations. 100
Consideration could be given to adopting procedural guidelines and complaints templates. To
enhance transparency of the election dispute resolution a publicly accessible register of complaints
should be created and the Constitutional Court should hold public hearings, with parties having theright to attend and to present their cases.
Prior to election day, six appeals were filed to the SEC, challenging MEC decisions on PB
membership and locations of polling stations. Three were rejected on merits and two as inadmissible
due to late submission. The ODIHR LEOM was made aware of 24 complaints filed by voters to the
SEC and the prosecutors alleging forgery of their signatures for support of candidate lists. As thedeadlines for investigation and prosecution are long, these cases were pending after election day. The
law contains no liability of candidates or their proxies for possible forgery in the nomination
documents. 101

96

97

98
99
100

101

Mandatory invalidation is prescribed in case the setting of the PS does not ensure the secrecy of the vote, thevoting process is disrupted, voters are not allowed to vote at closing, the control coupon is not found in the ballot
box, modification of the VL, discrepancies between the numbers of ballots found in the ballot box and signaturesin the VL or control coupons, the serial number of several control coupons does not correspond to the particular
PS or the numbers of several control coupons are the same.
In the case of Riza and Others v. Bulgaria (applications nos. 48555/10 and 48377/10; 13/01/2016), the ECtHR
reiterated that “the decision-making process on ineligibility or contestation of election results is accompanied by
criteria framed to prevent arbitrary decisions. In particular, such a finding must be reached by a body which canprovide a minimum of guarantees of its impartiality. Similarly, the discretion enjoyed by the body concerned mustnot be exorbitantly wide; it must be circumscribed, with sufficient precision, by the provisions of domestic law.”
Paragraph 96 of the Code of Good Practice states that “The procedure must also be simple, and providing voterswith special appeal forms helps to make it so.”
The law does not establish deadlines for publication of complaints but requires immediate publication by MECs
and the SEC of information significant for conducting the elections.
Paragraph 12 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document states that "proceedings may only be held in camera incircumstances prescribed by law and consistent with obligations under international laws and international
commitments” and commits the States to “accept […] the presence of observers sent by participating States andrepresentatives of non-governmental organizations and other interested persons at proceedings before courts.” Seealso Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 14 of the ICCPR.
Some 1,300 similar complaints submitted during the 2018 presidential election were still pending investigation.

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The Constitutional Court received five appeals. It rejected a challenge against the decision of thepresident setting the election date on the grounds that it was an individual act outside theConstitutional Court’s control. This decision of the Constitutional Court is at odds with international
good practice. 102 The court rejected an appeal of the SEC denial to register a candidate list and an
appeal against the SEC decision to uphold mergers of seven polling stations by the MEC in Podgorica
that alleged discrimination and disenfranchisement of voters. 103 In the latter case, the adjudication
procedure prevented the SEC from approving the list of polling stations within the legal deadline.
Upon two complaints by NGOs, the Constitutional Court abrogated as unconstitutional the residence
requirement in the SEC instructions on mobile voting, including for voters in quarantine, and healthrelated safety measures that created obligations for voters. 104
XIII. ELECTION OBSERVATION
The law provides for citizen and international observation of all aspects of the election process. The
accreditation requirements and deadlines were reasonable. The SEC accredited 1,824 citizen observers
and a total of 265 international observers, including local staff. The Center for Democratic Transition(CDT), the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), and the Network for Affirmation of NGO
Sector (MANS) were active at observing the campaign, the electoral preparations, political party
financing and media monitoring. Despite the organisational challenges posed by the pandemic, CDT
accredited 463 and CeMI 1,355 observers. Both organisations conducted parallel voting tabulation,and started publishing its results online and on television from 9pm on election day. Out of 265
international observers, 115 were from the European Network of Election Monitoring (ENEMO).
XIV. ELECTION DAYA.

OPENING AND VOTINGIn accordance with standard practice for LEOMs, members of the mission did not observe election
day proceedings in a systematic or comprehensive manner, but visited a limited number of polling
stations in 13 of the 24 municipalities. In the polling stations visited, the voting process wastransparent and procedures were generally followed. Tactile ballot guides were generally, but notalways, provided to visually impaired voters. In a number of those polling stations visited, andaccording to some ODIHR LEOM interlocutors, 105 voters with disabilities could not voteindependently and secretly and the majority of polling stations either were not accessible for persons
with physical disabilities or did not provide ballots and materials in accessible formats.
In order to facilitate equal participation of persons with disabilities, efforts should be undertaken to
ensure that polling station premises and layout are suitable for independent access by voters with

102

103

104

105

Under Article 148 of the Constitution, individual legal acts shall be in conformity with the law and are subject tojudicial review. CoE Committee of Ministers Rec(2004)20 on judicial review of administrative acts states that alladministrative acts - individual and normative - should be subject to judicial review.
The dissenting opinion to the judgment of the Constitutional Court stated that the SEC abused its competence andperformed the functions of the Administrative Court in assessing the content of the statutory documents of theparty. The appeal on the merger of polling stations was filed by the Democratic Montenegro.
The complaints were filed by the Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT) and the Centre for Civic Education .
The Court accepted that the right of voters to request mobile voting was unduly limited by the requirement thatthey are located on election day within the municipality they resided, while the right for mobile voting was unduly
extended to voters who were not entitled to it by law due to age, disability or treatment at hospital or social careinstitution.
Including the Association of Youth with Disabilities, the Association of the Blind in Montenegro and CEMI.

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Page: 22disabilities. Additional measures could be considered, including voter information material in
multiple formats, and effective training on disability inclusion to lower-level election commissions.
In some cases, the small size of polling stations and the large number of PB members and voters
contributed to overcrowding, especially in the late morning and early afternoon hours. While personal
protective equipment against the COVID-19 pandemic, such as masks, gloves and hand sanitizer,
was provided, it was not used consistently. Procedural shortcomings noticed in some instances
included identification of voters wearing masks and loud announcement of the voters’ names,
contrary to the law. The secrecy of the vote was at times compromised by voters who did not foldtheir ballots appropriately and by PB members who were removing the control coupon from theballots.
Mobile voting could be requested by voters due to sickness, disability or age. Voters could cast theirmobile votes on election day anywhere in the country, regardless of their place of registeredresidence. 106 A total of 13,578 votes, equivalent to some 3.3 per cent of all votes, were cast throughmobile voting.
B.

COUNTING, TABULATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The few counts observed were in general smooth and efficient. As the law and the SEC instructions
did not provide full clarity on all procedural safeguards, such as the process to determine the numberof detached ballot coupons and voter identification slips, procedures were sometimes inconsistently
followed. There is no requirement to post a copy of the PB protocol outside the polling station for
public scrutiny, at odds with international good practice and contrary to prior ODIHR
recommendation. 107
Upon the receipt of the election material, MECs verified if the PB protocols were complete andfigures reconciled, and representatives of the IT department of the parliament entered the data. The
tabulation at the MECs observed was well-organized, but not always conducted in a uniform way.
Specifically, there were no written criteria regarding MECs procedures on non-reconcilable figuresfrom PBs protocols.
On election day, the SEC provided regular updates on voter turnout per municipality. The website of
the SEC became unavailable for several hours, which the SEC attributed to a hacking attack. The
SEC made available the preliminary results at its website per municipality and per polling station inreal time after the tabulation started, but the announcement of results in the media was based on theparallel vote tabulation by the citizen observers. While the election law stipulates that MECs publish
on their website all documents relevant to the conduct of elections, the scanned PB result protocols
were not made available online.
To ensure the accountability and enhance transparency of the process, tabulation procedures at
MECs should be regulated in detail, particularly with regards to handling PB result protocols when
figures do not reconcile. Consideration could be given to broaden the access to PB results protocols,such as by promptly posting the protocols at the polling stations and publishing them online.
106

107

The Constitutional Court decision of 24 August abrogated the residency requirement in the SEC Rules on Mobile
Voting. The SEC, in its opinion issued on 26 August, advised that polling boards, within their discretion, should
give priority to voters physically staying in the municipality, and visit voters in other municipalities only if they
have time and capacity.
See paragraph 3.2.2.4.46 of the Code of Good Practice, “There must be enough copies of the record of theproceedings to distribute to ensure that all the aforementioned persons receive one; one copy must be immediately
posted on the notice-board, another kept at the polling station and a third sent to the commission or competenthigher authority”.

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XV.

Page: 23

POST-ELECTION DAY DEVELOPMENTS

Based on the preliminary results, three opposition coalitions jointly gained a slim majority inparliament, namely 41 of the 81 seats. 108 All contestants accepted the election results. DPS
acknowledged defeat and initiated attempts to form a new political bloc, which it labeled as “thealliance for European, civil and anti-fascist Montenegro”. 109 President Milo Đukanović stated that he
was willing to cooperate with a minority government (composed of the Democrats and URA),
provided that it would pursue the strategic course of Montenegro and stressed the vulnerability of thecountry vis-à-vis “greater Serbian nationalism.” Opposition leaders attempted to settle these concerns
by stating that the country’s independence and its pro-Western course are irreversible. On 9
September, three leaders of the coalitions led by DF, Democrats and URA publicly signed anagreement outlining the principles and obligations of the new coalition and declared their intention
to form an government composed of experts rather than party representatives. 110 Only 18 women (22per cent) were elected to the new parliament, representing a decrease from 19 (increased to 24 in2018) in the outgoing parliament and falling short of the 30 per cent quota for candidate lists. 111
Authorities should consider additional measures to achieve balanced representation of women andmen holding publicly elected positions. Political parties could consider internal measures to promotewomen to senior positions within party structure and to increase visibility of female candidates during
election campaigns.
Following the announcement of preliminary results, opposition leaders made calls to their supporters
to celebrate the victory at home. However, opposition supporters (mostly DF) organized celebrations
in various parts of the country, occasionally leading to small-scale confrontations. 112 On 2 September,the Islamic community centre in Pljevlja was vandalized. 113 DPS accused the opposition ofendangering the interethnic harmony and peace. The opposition in their turn blamed DPS for
artificially instigating violence to cause fear among citizens, particularly the minorities. 114 URA
introduced heightened security for its leader, due to pressure on him regarding his intention to forma coalition with DF and Democrats. On 3 and 6 September, DPS organized rallies in Cetinje andPodgorica.
The election law allows representatives of the contestants to inspect and photocopy electoral materials
following election day, including protocols, signed voter lists and the ballots. Contestants from

108

109
110

111

112

113

114

‘For the Future of Montenegro’ obtained 27 seats, ‘Peace is our Nation’- 10, ‘Black on White’- 4, while the former
ruling coalition obtained 38 seats (DPS - 30, BS - 3, SD - 3, Albanian minority parties- 2). SDP, which obtained 2seats, defined itself as opposition but did not side with any bloc.
On 2 September, a meeting was held by DPS with SD, BS, Albanian Alternative, DUA, FORCA, LP and HGI.
Principles of the agreement included honouring the country's international obligations, implementing necessaryreforms for EU accession, committing to respect the Constitution and laws, revising discriminatory laws andbylaws, including the Law on Freedom of Religion, upholding the recognition of Kosovo and Montenegro’s
national symbols.
Namely, 7 out of 30 DPS MPs, 6 out of 27 ‘For the Future of Montenegro’, 2 out of 10 of ‘Peace is our Nation’, 1
of 4 URA, 1 of 3 Bosniak Party and 1 of the 2 SDP MPs are women.Women continue to be underrepresented inhigh-ranking positions in parliament as well as in party leadership positions.
DPS and SD reported attacks in some party premises in Plužine and Pljevlja. In Podgorica a fight broke out between
DPS and opposition supporters, leading to several injuries. Serbian flags with nationalist messages appeared inTuzi, where Albanian minority population lives.
Subsequently, the Democrats organised guarding of the premises of the Islamic community while the holder of thelist ‘For the future of Montenegro’, together with local priests, opened a banner in front of the Hussein Pasha
mosque in Pljevlja stating that they protect the mosque.
The Minister of Interior blamed for this situation those who held ‘nationalist speeches’ while URA leader stressedthat provocations and incidents would be beneficial for DPS.

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various parties exercised this right in most municipalities. In one case, the police was involved, due
to allegedly stolen ballot coupons during the inspection, which would trigger a repeat election. 115
On 10 September repeat elections took place at one PS in Petnjica municipality. 116 The final results
were announced by the SEC on 13 September. A total of 413,894 voters voted, which equals a turnoutof 76.64 per cent.Of the 81 elected MPs, 18 were women.
After election day, some 13 official complaints were filed to the MECs and five of them wereappealed to the SEC. 117 Five of these were filed by contestants alleging election day irregularities andrequesting recounts or invalidation of PB results. 118 Whereas all requests were rejected on the grounds
that the alleged irregularities had not been previously entered in PB protocols, one was upheld, whichindicates inconsistent application of the law. 119 Some additional requests for invalidation of results
were filed informally. The prosecutors initiated investigation into nine alleged election day violations,
including buying of voter IDs, vote buying, pressure of voters and breach of the secrecy of vote.
XVI. RECOMMENDATIONS
These recommendations as contained throughout the text are offered with a view to further enhance
the conduct of elections in Montenegro and to support efforts to bring them fully in line with OSCE
commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections. These
recommendations should be read in conjunction with past ODIHR recommendations that have notyet been addressed. ODIHR stands ready to assist the authorities of Montenegro to further improvethe electoral process and to address the recommendations contained in this and previous reports. 120
A.

PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS

1.

Consideration should be given to undertaking a comprehensive reform to harmonize theelectoral legal framework and regulate all key aspects of the elections. In line with international
commitments, the reform process should be inclusive, ensure public discussion and should becompleted well in advance of the next elections.

115

The case referred to a DPS representative inspecting the election material of PB 63 in Podgorica.
MEC Petnjica ordered repeat elections at PS 7 upon a complaint by DPS regarding two missing ballot coupons.
Several complaints by voters concerned the PB failure to conduct mobile voting, inclusion in the VL, violation of
the secrecy of vote and were rejected as unfounded. Three challenges of the constitutionality of the closed party
list system were rejected by the SEC based on the 2016 Constitutional Court decision rejecting similar claims by
the same applicants. The SEC granted one complaint concerning the possibility to copy election materials.
Complaints were filed in Rozaje, Petnjica, Tivat and Kotor after the inspection of the election materials by theparties, primarily by the DPS, the Liberal Party and the Democratic Montenegro, and concerned mismatchingnumbers of control coupons, ballot papers and ID slips.
One complaint led to repeat elections, while two similar complaints alleging more significant discrepancies in
Rozaje were rejected as unfounded.
In paragraph 25 of the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Document, OSCE participating States committed themselves “to follow
up promptly the ODIHR’s election assessment and recommendations”. The follow-up of prior recommendations
is assessed by the ODIHR LEOM as follows: recommendation 12 from the final report on the 2016 parliamentaryelections is fully implemented. Recommendation 15 from the final report on the 2016 parliamentary elections andrecommendation 16 from the final report on 2018 presidential elections are mostly implemented. The
recommendations 1, 2, 7, 8, 14 and 18 from the final report on the 2016 parliamentary elections, 3,10, 14 from thefinal report on the 2018 presidential election are partially implemented. See also ODIHR Electoral
Recommendations Database.

116
117

118

119
120

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2.

The SEC should address emerging challenges and aspects of the process that are not sufficiently
regulated by the statutory law by promulgating clear, consistent, timely and fully
implementable instructions and decisions within its mandate.

3.

To allow for broader electoral participation on an equal basis, the legal capacity and residency
requirements for voting and standing for election should be reviewed in line with theinternational standards and good practice.

4.

To ensure transparency, accountability and integrity of campaign finance, the law should be
amended to prescribe effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and to provide for an
explicit obligation of the oversight body to identify and publish the information on inaccuracies,
including unreported incomes and expenditures.

5.

To prevent arbitrary application and ensure effective remedy the provisions on challenging andinvalidation of election results established by the PBs should be reviewed. The law should be
amended to prescribe that the decisions on preliminary results may be appealed, including up
to the highest level courts.

6.

Authorities should consider additional measures to achieve balanced representation of womenand men holding publicly elected positions. Political parties could consider internal measures
to promote women to senior positions within party structure and to increase visibility of female
candidates during election campaigns.

B.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

Legal Framework
7.

Consideration should be given to prescribing apresice list of grounds that trigger reduction ofparliamentary mandate and call of early elections.

Election Administration
8.

To further increase transparency and public confidence in the work of the election
administration, additional measures could be considered, including live online broadcast andaccess of media to SEC sessions, as well as publication of all relevant documents produced by
all levels of the election administration in a timely manner.

9.

To ensure consistent application of the election procedures, an efficient and comprehensive
training for all polling board members should be provided, including authorised representativesof contestants, with a focus on the counting procedures.

Voter Registration
10.

In order to enhance public trust in the Voter Register, the authorities should consider acomprehensive audit, for example through conducting field tests, and allow stakeholders tomonitor such exercise.

Candidate Registration
11.

To further promote pluralism in electoral process, consideration could be given to removing the
restriction to sign in support of only one candidate list.

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12.

To ensure equal and fair representation of national minorities, the election legislation should
provide clear guidance on criteria while determining the national minority status of candidate
lists, and ensure that the special provisions for national minority lists cannot be abused.

13.

To safeguard the integrity of candidate registration, consideration could be given to providing
clear criteria for signature verification, and adequate and timely sanctions for violations.

Electoral Campaign
14.

To prevent the misuse of office and state resources, additional legal safeguards could beconsidered. The authorities should ensure that the election campaign is conducted in an
atmosphere free from intimidation and fear of retribution and undertake measures to prevent
pressure on voters, including employees of state or state-affiliated institutions. Any instances
and allegations of pressure should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted by relevant
authorities, and the outcomes should be publicly reported.

Campaign Finance15.

The law should be reviewed to address gaps and ambiguities, including regulating the use ofloans, developing a comprehensive methodology for evaluation of in-kind donations anddefining the activities that constitute prohibited early campaigning.

16.

To improve accountability, an effective mechanism could be considered to enable the APC todirectly cross-check donors against a database for public procurement contractors and law
enforcement databases and to identify multiple donations by a single donor.

Media
17.

Provisions on defamation and false information which are contrary to international standards
on freedom of expression should be removed from the legislation.

18.

Additional effort could be made by broadcasters to improve the quality of editorial coverage ofthe campaign and to develop their own electoral content rather than using footage provided bycontestants.

19.

To ensure a prompt remedy of media disputes during the electoral campaign, the law should be
amended to prescribe that complaints by all stakeholders should be filed and reviewed withinshort timeframes. The AEM should consider acting ex officio upon possible irregularities, in atimely manner.

Complaints and Appeals
20.

To ensure effective remedy, consideration should be given to extending the rights of voters tofile complaints on all aspects of the electoral process, including the possibility to challenge
election results.

21.

Consideration could be given to adopting procedural guidelines and complaints templates. To
enhance transparency of the election dispute resolution a publicly accessible register ofcomplaints should be created and the Constitutional Court should hold public hearings, withparties having the right to attend and to present their cases.

Montenegro
Parliamentary Elections, 30 August 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report

Page: 27

Election Day
22.

In order to facilitate equal participation of persons with disabilities, efforts should beundertaken to ensure that polling station premises and layout are suitable for independent accessby voters with disabilities. Additional measures could be considered, including voter
information material in multiple formats, and effective training on disability inclusion to lowerlevel election commissions.

23.

To ensure the accountability and enhance transparency of the process, tabulation procedures at
MECs should be regulated in detail, particularly with regards to handling PB result protocols
when figures do not reconcile. Consideration could be given to broaden the access to PB results
protocols, such as by promptly posting the protocols at the polling stations and publishing them
online.

Montenegro
Parliamentary Elections, 30 August 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report

Page: 28

ANNEX I: FINAL ELECTION RESULTS 121
The SEC announced the final election results on 14 September 2020.

121
122

Total number of registered voters
Total number of votes cast

540,026
413,894

Total number of valid votes

409,393 122

Total number of invalid votes

4,500

Turnout (percentage)

76.64

NR on
the ballot

Candidate List

Votes won

Mandateswon

Percentage
of valid
votes

1Social Democrats - Ivan Brajović - We Decide
Consistently

16,761

3

4.09

2

Bosniak Party - Rightfully - Rafet Husović

16,2793

3.98

3

HGI - With the All the Heart for Montenegro!

1,106

0

0,27

4

SDP - Strong Montenegro!

12,8352

3,14

5

Croatian Reformist Party of Montenegro HRS

496

0

0,12

6

Dr Dritan Abazović - Black on White - DrSrđan Pavićević - (Civic Movement “URA”,
Reconciliation and Justice Party, Group of
Citizens“Civis”
andIndependentIntellectuals) - Citizens!

22,6794

5,54

7

Albanian
Coalition“Unanimously”
Democratic Party, Democratic Union of
Albanians, Democratic Union in Montenegro

4,675

1

1,14

8

Decisively for Montenegro! DPS - MiloĐukanović

143,515

30

35,06

9

For the Future of Montenegro Democratic
Front (New Serbian Democracy, Movement
for Changes, Democratic People Party),
Socialist People's Party, True Montenegro,
United Montenegro, Workers Party, Party ofUnited Pensioners and Disabled, Yugoslav
Communist Party of Montenegro, Serbian
Radical Party, Party of Pensioners, Disabled
and Social Justice133,261

27

32,55

Source: CEC Decision of 26 July 2017.
The total number of votes cast is one less than the sum of valid and invalid votes, as at PS no. 1 in Kolašinmunicipality the PB found one ballot less in the box than the number of votes cast, and the PB did not count themissing ballot as valid or invalid.

Montenegro
Parliamentary Elections, 30 August 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report

Page: 29

10

Albanian List - Genci Nimanbegu, Nik
Gjeloshaj

6,488

1

1,58

11

Aleksa Bečić - Miodrag Lekić - Peace Is Our
Nation – Democrats - DemocraticMontenegro - Demos - Party of Pensioners,
Disabled and Restitution - Civic Movement“The New Left”

51,29810

12,53%

Montenegro
Parliamentary Elections, 30 August 2020
ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission Final Report

Page: 30

ANNEX II: LIST OF OBSERVERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ELECTIONOBSERVATION MISSIONOSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Margareta Cederfelt
Christian Jensen
Hana Dogović
Michael Andreas Baker
Dimitrije Todorovic

Special Co-ordinatorMP
OSCE PA Secretariat
OSCE PA Secretariat
OSCE PA Secretariat

SwedenDenmarkBosnia and Herzegovina
CanadaSerbiaHead of Mission

Hungary
Azerbaijan
BelarusGermany
GreeceHungary
PolandRomania
Romania
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
United Kingdom

ODIHR EOM Core Team
Tamás Meszerics
Rashad Shirinov
Elena Kovalyova
Elma Sehalić
Elissavet Karagiannidou
Marcell Nagy
Robert Lech
Valeriu Mija
Roman Railean
Karolina Semina
Ruslan Ovezdurdyyev
Chris Taylor

ODIHR EOM Long-term Observers
Joself Orisko
Patrik Taufar
Kine Rusten
Niels Henrik Nielsen
Gorica Atanasova-Gjorevska
Lars Tollemark
Astrid Nunez
Iryna Khanenko
Bujar Ajdari
Daniel Villegas

Czech RepublicCzech Republic
Denmark
Denmark
North Macedonia
SwedenSwedenUkraineUnited States of America
Unites States of America

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