The Coalition “Pod lupom” has published key findings from its election day observation up to 12:00, based on reports submitted by its observers deployed to approximately every fifth polling station across the Republika Srpska.
By 12:00, the Coalition “Pod lupom” recorded 19 serious electoral irregularities, including: 6 cases of missing electoral materials, 5 cases of violation of the election silence, 2 cases of denying election observation, 2 cases of unlawful publication of public opinion poll results, 2 polling stations without a list of polling board members, and 1 case each of pressure on voters and photographing inside the polling station.
A recurring electoral irregularity that consistently appears from one election cycle to another is family voting, recorded at 23.7% of polling stations. A procedural violation was also noted in which voters were sent away because their names were not listed in the Extract from the Central Voters’ Register (CVR). Between 1 and 10 such cases were recorded at 20% of polling stations, while more than 10 cases were reported at 0.9% of polling stations.
Voters who received assistance from another person during voting did not provide proof that such assistance was genuinely needed at 22% of polling stations. Observers also reported that a single person provided assistance to multiple voters inside the booth at 9.7% of polling stations.
Voting without verification of identification documents was allowed at 4 polling stations.
At one polling station, the secrecy of the vote was compromised.
Observers filed 2 remarks at polling stations, while the Coalition “Pod lupom” has so far submitted 7 initiatives to the Central Election Commission (CEC) for action ex officio in relation to electoral irregularities, as well as one complaint to the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) in Banja Luka.
Voter Turnout by 11:00
The Coalition “Pod lupom” also monitors voter turnout. The recorded turnout in the Early Elections by 11:00 was 10.4% (with a statistical margin of error of +/- 0.50% at a 95% confidence interval). For comparison, turnout in the 2022 General Elections in the Republika Srpska by 11:00 was 17%.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” urged citizens to report any electoral irregularities they observe via the toll-free number 080 05 05 05 or through the Coalition’s social media channels.
The next press release, covering the voting process, turnout by 15:00, and electoral irregularities reported by 15:00, will be published at 16:00 on www.podlupom.org while the next press conference will be held at 22:00 at the Holiday Hotel in Sarajevo.
