In an effort to expose and suppress pressure on voters The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” launched a campaign about political pressures in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of the campaign covers the real experiences of citizens who encountered various forms of pressure on voters.
A previously published survey by the Coalition “Pod lupom”, in which participation took 868 citizens, showed that pressure on voters is a very frequent phenomenon, and the individual stories that were selected for presentation to the public show in a simple way that pressure on voters occurs both, in state institutions as well as in private companies. Pressure on voters is exerted by party members, but also by someone who is close to citizens for example close family members as well as close friends. Also, the pressures on voters are repeated from one election cycle to another. No political entity is immune to voter pressure. The selected stories relate to almost all political entities holding some level of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina: SNSD, HDZ BiH, SDA, SDP, DEMOS, SDP, NiP, SDS, SBiH…
Citizens’ stories actually show that proactive action is necessary in order to protect the integrity of the electoral process as well as to protect citizens-voters. We firmly believe that raising awareness about pressure on voters through concrete cases is extremely important. By presenting examples from real life, citizens gain insight into various forms of coercion and manipulation that may occur in order for political entities to achieve their interests in elections. – they said in the Coalition “Pod lupom“.
In order to protect the identity of the citizens who gained the strength and courage to share their experiences, the stories have been anonymized and all data from the stories that could endanger them, or in some way be connected to the story itself, have been removed, but the descriptions of the situations in which they found themselves have been retained as well as the challenges they faced.
A citizen (25) from Herzegovina shared her experience from the 2022 General Elections, which according to her opinion, took its psychological toll. I must share content, I must go to meetings (even in other cantons), I must bring a minimum of 20 people to participate and those people must be „safe“ votes in the elections (with a strong emphasis on „safe“), I must submit personal information of my family, I must find people whose votes I can buy for a certain amount of money. Each command was preceded by “you must”, followed by “if you want to have anything (in your life)”. That „anything “encompasses: my scholarship, my job, the job of someone from my family…”There are a lot of people waiting in line, if you don’t deserve it, you won’t be anywhere, without us nothing can be done, what do you think who will want to employ you”. Maybe my story sounds harmless to someone, but it had such a psychological and emotional effect on me that created disgust for every part of politics. Having someone constantly calling you, forcing you and threatening you to be their puppet is hard to bear even for a day, let alone for a several months. – states the citizen whose identity is hidden.
A citizen (68) from Central Bosnia Canton shared his experience pertaining to pressure on voters prior to the 2020 Local Elections in a state-owned company. Due to disobeying the party’s order, his son lost his job, eventually he quit his job himself.
When the election campaign began, the director increased the pressure so to vote for him. He himself started to abuse work meetings in the company, and very quickly started openly to buy votes. The message was clear: vote for him, and for every vote you will get 100 KM. Additionally, a larger amount of money was promised if the employee’s family members also vote for him. The votes were bought in a way that anyone who wanted to vote for the director already received a pre-filled ballot paper that had just to be put in the ballot box. In the end of the process, one needs to send an SMS message that the task has been completed. – states the citizen whose identity is hidden.
It is alarming that electoral corruption and political pressures affect the very existence of citizens of BiH. Illegal pressures on voters often include employment under party’s conditions or getting fired from work in case of disobeying party’s orders. Unfortunately, in some situations, pressures on voters resulted in the citizens leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One citizen (37) from Central Bosnia Canton whose husband was fired when they refused to gather safe votes for the party states: “My husband and I with our children feel much better and safer in Germany, and we come to Bosnia and Herzegovina only when we feel desire to see our loved ones. That desire disappears very quickly just when we remember how our last months of life in Bosnia and Herzegovina looked like, i.e., our struggle to survive because my husband lost his job and we lost our only income.”
A citizen (25) from northern Bosnia states that in the 2021 by-election period, the only way to get a job was through the party, which he did not want to do.
“It was at that moment that I realized that the painstaking effort and hard work invested during the four-year study, which was rewarded with a high average grade and numerous student awards, was not enough to give me equal treatment and the opportunity to apply for a job in my profession in my hometown. That’s why I looked for a professional engagement in another city, and then in another country, which took me far from my hometown.” – says the citizen whose identity is hidden.
A citizen (31) from Herzegovina states that she was fired from a public institution because the party did not want to waste jobs on people who will not bring benefits for the party.
“I felt deeply disappointed and at the same time terrified, because I knew that I had no asset so to fight against them. I stand alone in my 20s against a system entrenched in Bosnian society for years. In an instant, all my hard work before and during my time in that facility went down the drain. Obviously, I didn’t bring enough benefits to them, because over time they gave up on the pressure and they handed me a notice of termination of employment. Since then, I haven’t worked a single job in my profession, especially not in my city. My diploma is on the shelf, and I do some seasonal jobs in the surrounding countries, earning for a living,” says the citizen whose identity is hidden.
Full stories of citizens as well as more stories can be found at LINK.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” states that the above examples show that political pressures are very much a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s reality not only during elections. It is about continuous pressure on citizens. The lack of mechanisms for the protection of citizens and the fact that the existing ones are not used effectively is very alarming. The Coalition „Pod lupom“ is of the opinion that it is necessary to introduce a policy of zero tolerance towards political pressures and abuses in order to create an atmosphere in which such activities are most severely condemned and punished.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” invites all citizens to anonymously share their stories regarding the pressure on voters they experienced. Citizens can anonymously share their stories regarding the pressure on voters they experienced through the APPLICATION FORM on the website www.podlupom.org , email info@podlupom.org or by calling toll-free number 080 05 05 05.
