BS
The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections Pod lupom, which is conducting a citizen-based, non-partisan election observation mission for the 2026 General Elections, has so far recorded a total of 277 electoral irregularities during the pre-election period. The largest number of reported irregularities relates to: the misuse of public resources (155 cases), early campaigning (86 cases), irregularities in the formation of Polling Station Committees (17 cases), the political exploitation of children (9 cases), illegal paid advertising (5 cases), violations of media rules (3 cases), and 2 cases of other electoral irregularities.
To date, the Coalition has submitted 56 initiatives to the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Based on reports submitted by the Coalition, the CEC BiH has so far imposed 10 sanctions amounting to a total of BAM 45,500.
The Coalition has paid particular attention to the political exploitation of children, expressing concern that the number of sanctions imposed for this type of electoral irregularity remains extremely low and is accompanied by inconsistencies in the sanctioning practices observed during the current electoral cycle.
“The most common form of the exploitation of children that we have recorded so far involves situations in which political subjects or their supporters organize visits to families, often accompanied by the distribution of gifts. Minor children are then photographed or filmed, and the resulting material is published on social media and/or other platforms. In this way, the presence of children becomes an integral part of political promotion, with the clear intention of eliciting an emotional response from the public towards the political subject or supporter,” stated the Coalition.
In previous electoral cycles, such cases were sanctioned on the grounds that children had been used to create a positive image of a political subject and to indirectly influence voters’ emotions. However, during the current electoral cycle, nearly identical situations are no longer being treated as the exploitation of children. Instead, such activities are interpreted as promoting the importance of family.
“Particularly troubling are the arguments put forward by some political subjects, claiming that there has been no violation of the law because the presence of a child does not constitute a direct call to support a political party, or because a three- or four-year-old child cannot, in itself, advocate voting for a particular political option. Such arguments completely miss the point. No reasonable person claims that a three- or four-year-old child can run a political campaign. On the contrary, the problem arises when adults use a child as an emotional instrument in their own political promotion,” the Coalition added.
To date, only two out of the nine reported cases have resulted in sanctions. In those cases, children were depicted at a playground and at a school, and it was established that they had been used as a vulnerable category of society for the purposes of political promotion.
Inconsistent sanctioning practices create a serious legal vacuum and leave room for political subjects to exploit children under various pretexts. If the same action constitutes prohibited political promotion in one case, but is interpreted as “the promotion of family values” in another, there is every reason to demand clear, consistent, and well-founded action.
“Children are not political props. They are not tools for gaining public sympathy. They are not a means of creating a more favourable image of a candidate or political party. We therefore expect the legal provisions designed to protect children from political exploitation to be applied consistently and in accordance with their true purpose. If this practice continues, we risk reducing the legal protection of children to a merely declaratory principle, while political subjects continue to find new ways of using children in their campaigns without consequences,” the Coalition stated.
The Coalition also called on all citizens to report any observed electoral irregularities via the toll-free telephone number 080 05 05 05 or through the online reporting form neregularnosti.podlupom.org, including anonymously.
The Coalition further invited all interested citizens to apply to become non-partisan Election Day observers for these historic elections, which will feature the long-awaited introduction of new electoral technologies. Applications to become an observer can be submitted through the online form ukljucise.podlupom.org or via the above-mentioned toll-free telephone number.
