Radio Free Europe: Addresses Missing for over 500,000 Voters in Electoral Roll

Elections (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

More than 500,000 voter entries in the Serbian electoral roll are missing a street name and number, an analysis of publicly available voter records conducted by Radio Free Europe published on Sept. 26 has revealed.

That means that more than half a million voters will be eligible to cast their ballots in early parliamentary elections on Oct. 25 without a registered address. Data on the number of voters per address is available on the website of the Serbian Ministry of State Administration and Local Government, whose purview includes the electoral roll. Using automatic data processing Radio Free Europe found that more than 500,000 constituents are missing a street name and number.

Instances of this were noted in different parts of Serbia -- from Prijepolje in the southwest, via Cacak in the west, to the southern municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac. In Belgrade, where most people live in high-rises, more than 90 percent of addresses lack an apartment number, while the electoral roll only includes data on the total number of voters per building, Radio Free Europe said. It is therefore impossible to verify the number of voters registered to one apartment, even though legislative changes adopted late in 2025 make it possible for citizens to check online records for the number of voters per household.

The ruling Serbian Progressive Party has rejected accusations of manipulating the electoral roll to affect the outcome of the vote. The opposition and non-governmental observers, however, are calling for access to all records in order to determine the accuracy of the roll by cross-checking various state databases to prevent possible abuses.