The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” informs the public that in the 2024 Local Elections, it has engaged nearly 850 civic, non-partisan election day observers to monitor the entire election process at polling stations (opening of polling stations, voting process, closing of polling stations, vote counting, and packaging of election materials). Data from the field is received by the “Pod lupom” Coalition’s Call Center, and the Coalition’s Legal Team works on addressing electoral irregularities while reporting is done in real-time.
“Pod lupom” says that it is positive that the election day began with most observers having unhindered access to polling stations and the majority of polling stations opened on time without significant delays, with the exception of Fojnica, where the elections were entirely postponed this morning due to a natural disaster.
However, certain oversights and electoral irregularities have been observed. Specifically, a recurring issue from one election cycle to the next is that local election commissions fail to provide observer lists to polling station committees, causing Pod lupom observers to face challenges in accessing polling stations due to this procedural shortcoming. Such instances happened this year in Ilidža, Olovo, Vogošća, Kalesija, Trebinje, Prijedor, and Banja Luka.
Regarding electoral irregularities, observers recorded 59 critical incidents. Observers report that in Tuzla, polling stations failed to display the lists of polling station committee members and their political party affiliations, constituting a violation of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This prevents citizen voters and those observing the election process from verifying whether there has been any trading of positions within the polling station committees. Additionally, at a smaller number of polling stations in the country, observers expressed suspicion of potential party infiltration into the positions of polling station committee chairpersons and deputy chairpersons, as well as trading of polling station positions between political entities. Furthermore, voting secrecy was compromised at one polling station in Banja Luka and Lopare, and there are suspicions of abuse of assistance with voting at one polling station in Živinice. The lack of polling materials at 8.5% of polling stations is also concerning, marking a 6.4% increase compared to the previous elections.
Since the “Pod lupom” Coalition is monitoring the implementation of new technologies at polling stations, the initial information indicates that during the first hours, the equipment is functioning properly, and the voting process is proceeding smoothly at almost all polling stations. The exceptions are one polling station in Doboj, where the electronic voter identification system is not working, and two polling stations in Tuzla, where ballot scanners are malfunctioning, but voting has continued without the equipment.
The “Pod lupom” Coalition calls on political entities to respect the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to refrain from electoral irregularities, and to respect the ongoing election silence.
Today, it is imperative that we go out and vote, exercise our right to vote, and cast our ballots for those we believe will best represent our interests over the next four years. New technologies are being tested in these elections, and now is the right time for citizens to share their opinions, participate in testing these technologies, and continue moving toward their implementation in future elections, says “Pod lupom.
The “Pod lupom” Coalition also invites citizens to share all their positive or negative election experiences today through the form available at https://mojeiskustvo.podlupom.org/. Citizens can also still report any electoral irregularities via the toll-free number 080 05 05 05.
The next public statement regarding the voting process, turnout, and electoral irregularities up until 11:00 hrs will be published at 13:00 hrs on the website www.podlupom.org, and the next press conference will be held at 16:00 hrs at the Holiday Hotel in Sarajevo.
