A. Electoral system for the distribution of parliamentary mandates
The previous version of the law allowed political parties to change the order of candidates in the list after election day. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission previously recommended that this possibility be removed from the law. The draft law does not contain a specific provision allowing for a political party to change the order of candidates on a list after the elections. However, the rules on “favoured candidates” as well as the possibility for political party leaders to partly decide about who will be elected after the elections – even if some criteria, such as representation of women, young and minorities are provided for in the law – is a de facto changing of the order of candidates regardless of the results of the open list voting and is not in line with international standards.[1] The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR recommend revising the draft in order not to allow the party leadership to change the allocation of seats after the elections and to clarify the criteria for allocation of seats.
[1] See Joint Recommendations on the Laws on Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Elections, and Electoral Administration in the Republic of Serbia by the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR -adopted by the Venice Commission at its 66th Plenary Session (Venice, 17-18 March 2006), CDL-AD(2006)013, par. 43 and other relevant documents.
