The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” has released a new episode of its informational and educational podcast Election Compass, dedicated to electoral reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The episode features Vehid Šehić, Chair of the Strategic Committee of the “Pod lupom” Coalition, former member and President of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC BiH), and a recognized election expert. In conversation with Hasan Kamenjaković, he reflects on his personal experience and decades-long career to analyze the development of the electoral process, political blockages, and resistance to the introduction of new technologies.
Speaking about the early stages of election administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šehić emphasizes that political irresponsibility and the obstruction of electoral reforms are not recent phenomena:
“This irresponsibility of those in power, which we still see today, has persisted since 2001. Unfortunately, instead of abandoning such practices and obstruction, they have continued them to this day—blocking certain amendments to the Election Law of BiH, particularly the introduction of new technologies that are highly important.”
The episode focuses on why electoral reform has been stalled for years and why key changes have not been implemented. According to Šehić, the issue should not be framed as a lack of “political will,” but rather as a lack of accountability:
“There is no political will. Frankly, I am not interested in political will at all. There is no political accountability—and that is the biggest obstacle to positive developments in building this state as a rule-of-law state. We live in a system where legal certainty is not guaranteed, where citizens are divided into those to whom the law applies and those to whom it does not.”
According to him, the prolonged maintenance of the current system is not accidental:
“They have turned a non-system into a system. We live in a country where politicians—though not all, as we must not generalize—formally advocate for change, while privately hoping those changes never occur.”
The discussion also highlights resistance to the introduction of new technologies in the electoral process. According to Šehić, the status quo benefits major political parties:
“Large parties—not all, but many—benefit from this system without electronic voter identification and scanners, because they have developed strategies to unlawfully secure a higher number of votes in elections.”
Šehić describes his long-standing discussions with MPs, representatives, and delegates about introducing new technologies as contradictory: although they formally support reforms, these are regularly blocked during official sessions.
He also points out that many current reforms and initiatives are largely driven by citizens and implemented by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), even though responsibility should lie with domestic institutions.
Šehić notes that politicians often criticize the OHR for decisions related to reforms and law enforcement, but that such criticism mainly serves to divert attention from their own lack of accountability:
“What is absolutely unacceptable is that politicians very often attack the High Representative. What is hypocritical is that they criticize him for doing the job they themselves were supposed to do.”
At the end of the episode, Šehić stresses that without more active civic engagement, there can be no meaningful reform:
“I once again appeal to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina—voters in particular—to finally start voting for themselves and their future. I hope that citizens will ultimately understand that they must fight for their own freedom, because no one else will grant it to them.”
Watch the new episode of Election Compass on the Coalition “Pod lupom” YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10xF3R_sJtA
You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7j3sQkghLKPe4ggteclazS?si=oQ87AqE2RHq7_U1N6OILiA
