The Coalition “Pod lupom” presented the Final Report on the Citizen, Non-Partisan Observation of the 2024 Local Elections. The report provides an overview of the pre-election period, Election Day and post-election period, analyzing key processes and offering recommendations for improving the electoral process.
The 2024 Local Elections in BiH were conducted generally successfully, with recorded cases of violations of election rules, isolated incidents, and challenges in the voting and vote counting processes. The integrity of the elections was improved through amendments to the BiH Election Law, and the testing of new technologies was assessed as extremely successful.
Amendments to the BiH Election Law have improved the integrity of elections in the pre-election period, such as the reform of polling stations, the ban on premature campaigning, and the specification of the cases pertaining to misuse of public resources. Despite this, 1,367 electoral irregularities were recorded, the majority of which relate to the reformed segments, which shows that the changes, although positive, require dedicated implementation and monitoring.
Election Day was conducted in accordance with election rules at most polling stations, with the recurrence of “traditional” irregularities such as family voting, misuse of voting assistance and pressure on voters. 149 serious violations of election rules were recorded, which were successfully prevented during Election Day. Amendments to the Election Law of BiH also enabled the introduction of new technologies. Pod lupom assessed that the testing of new technologies was successfully implemented within the framework of pilot projects. At polling stations where ballot scanners and electronic voter identification were set up, minor irregularities were observed during the voting and vote counting processes, which only confirms that new technologies must be introduced at all polling stations in the next General Elections, and that preparations should begin immediately.
Certain extreme values recorded on Election Day are of concern. Turnout at 3.8% of polling stations was above 75%, and at 8.3% of polling stations more than 10% of invalid ballots were recorded for council/assembly. Both indicate potential electoral fraud.
The post-election period was marked by numerous activities and challenges. The Central Election Commission (CEC BiH) issued orders to recount votes at 186 polling stations due to observed irregularities. The Coalition “Pod lupom” submitted requests to recount votes at 442 polling stations and to recount votes by mail in 3 basic electoral units, but all requests were rejected. During the process of recounting, irregularities were discovered, such as discrepancies in results and ballots without stamps and/or signatures.
At the moment, there is a kind of playing the electoral will of citizens and a political game with assigned mandates. So far, there have been 236 resignations from their assigned mandates.
Although the number and amount of sanctions imposed are significantly higher than in previous election cycles, many of the imposed penalties were not deterrent in nature, which led to the repetition of electoral irregularities. According to available data, by December 15, 2024 the CEC BiH received a total of 1480 reports of irregularities, of which every tenth resulted in a fine. The total amount of penalties is 859,500 KM according to the 159 imposed sanctions. The average imposed penalty was 5,405 KM, while the lowest possible amount is 3,000 KM, and the highest is 30,000 KM for political entities and 15,000 KM for candidates in the elections. The average sentence imposed is almost minimal, and some repeat violators of election rules could be sanctioned with up to 12 times more. Also, it is likely that there is no system of prioritization for dealing with reports of electoral irregularities and that sanctioning practices are uneven.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” has filed 442 reports, of which 87 have resulted in sanctions so far. This includes 34 fines and 53 decisions by which 59 people were removed from membership in Polling Station Committees due to proven irregularities. In total, based on the reports of the Coalition “Pod lupom”, fines in the amount of 158,500 KM have been imposed. However, it is worrying that 271 reports have still not been considered, although some were filed as early as July 2024. This slow sanctioning process further undermines trust in the timely and adequate response of the competent institutions
The Coalition “Pod lupom” provides recommendations for improving the electoral process after each election. So far, 54 recommendations of the Coalition “Pod lupom” have been partially or fully implemented into the election rules in BiH, and after the 2024 Local Elections, the Coalition “Pod lupom” has created 42 recommendations, of which 5 are priority recommendations.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” emphasizes in its priority recommendations the need for systemic reforms so to make elections in BiH freer and fairer. The introduction of new technologies at all polling stations is a key priority because only in this way will numerous proven electoral thefts and frauds be prevented. It is also necessary to ensure timely and adequate sanctioning of all observed irregularities in order to increase citizens’ trust in the electoral process.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” also points out that transparency can be further strengthened by publicly publishing the Central Voters’ Register, and that the quality of the work of Polling Station Committees would be improved by creating a database of trained non-partisan candidates during the pre-election period. Finally, simplifying the process of accrediting non-partisan observers would be crucial for ensuring impartial election monitoring and strengthening democratic principles in the country.
Detailed Final report on citizen, non-partisan observation of the 2024 Local Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be read HERE.
