Vučić won 60 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential election, while Zdravko Ponoš, the candidate of the United for the Victory of Serbia coalition, placed second.

[2] Since he came to power, observers have assessed that Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism, followed by a decline in media freedom and civil liberties.

[13] These protests helped to strengthen the unity of opposition forces, of which the Alliance for Serbia (SZS) was the biggest and most prominent,[14][15] while demonstrators demanded the resignation of Vučić and other senior officials.

[20][21] The SNS-led ballot list, named "For Our Children", won a supermajority of votes and seats in the June 2020 parliamentary election,[22] while the government was formed in late October 2020.

[43] Members of the European Parliament Tanja Fajon, Vladimír Bilčík and Knut Fleckenstein met with Vučić in Belgrade on 9 July 2021.

[54][55] Dačić announced that the government accepted the suggestions of forming a media monitoring body and the change in the composition of the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).

[57] In early September 2021, political parties that took part in work board dialogues had received the draft document regarding the improvement of electoral conditions.

[62][63] Representatives of DSS, Dveri, POKS, Enough is Enough (DJB), Healthy Serbia (ZS), and Serbian Radical Party (SRS) took part in the signatory meeting which was held on 29 October 2021.

[64] In the final document, it was agreed that the minimum number of collected signatories for minority ballot lists would be lowered from 10,000 to 5,000; more funding would be given to participants in elections; the obligation to post a financial guarantee for the participants would be abolished; the right of free use of all halls of local communities for pre-election activities for opposition parties would be given; electoral campaigns would be prohibited from ten days before the election date; fees would be increased for polling station staff; and the Regulatory Body of Electronic Media (REM) and Election Commission would receive composition changes.

[69][70] For the proposed changes to be adopted, a referendum needed to take place;[71] it was initially announced that it would be held in fall of 2021, although the date was later settled for 16 January 2022.

[89][90][91] Irregularities were reported at voting stations, while some non-governmental organisations, such as the Centre for Research, Transparency, and Accountability (CRTA), and opposition parties, such as DJB, claimed voter fraud.

[94][95] The government of Serbia signed an agreement in 2017 to implement Project Jadar, which would give Rio Tinto permission to exploit the jadarite mineral.

[213][214] Multiple non-governmental organisations also announced their participation in monitoring the elections, such as ENEMO, CRTA, CeSID, OSCE, and delegates from PACE.

[219][220][221] During the last campaign week, organisations noted the appearance of "phantom voters", signalling potential electoral fraud.

[240][241] Talks about the formation were held until 23 November,[242][243] after which it was announced to the public that SSP would lead the coalition alongside DS, Narodna, PSG, and other minor parties and movements.

[248] Dveri, which was a part of the SZS coalition, declined to join their list,[249] and instead it formed the "Patriotic Bloc" with minor right-wing parties in December 2021.

[253][254] In June 2021, Nebojša Zelenović, the leader of ZZS formed a coalition named "Action" in which 28 minor environmentalist civic groups and political movements joined due to their support for the "Green Agreement for Serbia".

[374][375] UZPS campaigned on the formation of technocratic teams and an anti-corruption body, and it voiced support for lustration, transparency, and social justice.

[251] It opposed the legalisation of civil unions,[406] and the coalition has expressed their support towards monarchism, antiglobalism, and abolition of vaccine passports.

[442][443] Presidential candidate Miša Vacić expressed his support for introducing mandatory conscription and increasing the rights for war veterans in Serbia.

[454][455] SNS managed to strengthen its presence in suburban and rural areas, although it underperformed in major cities such as Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, and Valjevo.

[470][471] Many crowds formed in polling stations across Serbia, mostly due to the simultaneous holding of elections at several levels, which slowed down the process, but also because of increased voter turnout.

[476][477] Later that evening, CRTA stated that multiple Bulgarian trains occurred during the vote, and that some ballot stations in Belgrade declined to cooperate with electoral observers.

[480] CRTA and political activists had also noted that the election day was marked by high tensions, verbal and in several places, such as Belgrade, physical violence.

[484][485] ENEMO had stated that intimidation and vote buying affected the results of the elections, and that the process of voter registration lacked transparency.

[487][488] The PACE monitoring mission evaluated that the "fundamental freedoms were largely respected, and voters were presented diverse political options, but a number of shortcomings resulted in an uneven playing field, favouring the incumbents".

PACE also noted that public sector employees were pressured to support the ruling party and that state resources were misused during the campaign period.

[489] Kyriakos Hadjiyianni, the special coordinator and leader of the OSCE short-term observers, said that the campaign period was competitive though that the ruling party had undue advantage.

[493] After the proclamation of the preliminary results, Vučić was congratulated by Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, Miloš Zeman, Zoran Milanović, and others.

[496][497] The Ecological Uprising and Assembly of Free Serbia, who were a part of the We Must coalition, organised a protest in front of the RIK building on 4 April.