The Coalition’s preliminary assessment of the Election Day in the 2020 Mostar Local Elections is that the Election Day was peaceful, with a small number of electoral irregularities that repeat in every election. All recorded irregularities deserve the attention of the election administration authorities, as they point to the need for improvements in the electoral legislation.
We are happy that the citizens of Mostar finally have been allowed to vote in local elections after 12 years.
TURNOUT
The Coalition “Pod lupom“ also monitored for the first time the information on the turnout in the 2020 Local Elections. The recorded turnout in the Mostar 2020 Local elections is 54.7% (with margin of statistical error +/- 1.18 % on the .95 % confidence interval). The turnout is higher by 3.7% compared to the turnout in the November 15 Local Elections in BiH.
DETERMINATION OF RESULTS FOR CITY COUNCIL
The determination of the election results at the polling stations was carried out mostly in line with the law and regulations. Ink pens were observed on the counting desks at three polling stations during the opening of the ballot boxes, which opens room for suspicion of possible interventions on the ballot papers.
Declaration of invalid ballots for the City Council was not implemented in accordance with the CEC’s regulations. One case of adding votes was recorded during the count of the ballots for the City Council. At nine (9) polling stations, the observers filed objections regarding the determination of the elections results for the City Council. Serious irregularities that may affect the election result for the City Council were recorded at one polling station.
Discrepancies in the accuracy test for election into the City Council – the city electoral unit of the City of Mostar were recorded at two polling stations, while the discrepancies in the accuracy test for election into the City Council – the electoral unit of the city area of the City of Mostar were recorded at one polling station.
Problems with the packing of the polling material were observed at four (4) polling stations. The cases of unauthorised persons’ entering the polling stations after they closed was recorded at 10 polling stations. The Stock form and Form for aggregate results were not signed by all members of the polling station committee at five (5) polling stations. At one third of the polling stations, the yellow copy of the Form for aggregate results was either not displayed or it was displayed but it was illegible.
CLOSING OF THE POLLING STATIONS
The closing of the polling station was carried out mostly in line with the regulations. All polling stations closed by 7:15 p.m., except for one, that closed with a delay of more than 15 minutes. At 1.4% of the polling stations that did not close on time, citizens that were outside the polling stations at 7 p.m. were not allowed to vote. All members of the polling station committees were present at the time of the polls closing; the exceptions are two polling stations. The Coalition’s observers could perform unhindered observation of the counting process.
VOTING PROCESS
The voting process irregularity where one person is given multiple ballot papers or where one person votes multiple times was not recorded at any of the polling stations. In addition, not a single case of the Bulgarian train (voters arriving at the polling stations with filled out ballots and leaving with blank ballots) was recorded nor were there any cases of inducing voters to vote for any political subject; however, one case of intimidation or pressure on voters was recorded.
Between 1 and 10 cases of voting without valid identification documents were recorded at eight (8) polling stations. The cases of voters being turned away from the polling stations because they were not on the excerpt from the Central Voter Register were recorded at more than 60% of the polling stations (up to 10 such cases). More than 10 such cases were recorded at one polling station.
The Coalition’s observers recorded family voting at two thirds of the polling stations (up to 10 cases of this type of irregularity) and more than 10 such cases were recorded at one polling station.
At more than 40% of the polling stations, one person assisted multiple persons with voting in the ballot booth, and more than 10 such cases were recorded at two polling stations.
Long presence of unauthorised persons was recorded at one polling station. The measures for preventing the Covid-19 spread were neither applied nor observed in 6.8% of the cases.
The Coalition’s observers were prevented from unhindered observation of the electoral process at three (3) polling stations and objections filed by the observers were recorded at 13 polling stations.
REPORTS FROM CITIZENS
The Coalition “Pod lupom” has through its toll-free number and online tool received reports on 23 electoral irregularities. Of the 23 reports, 7 citizens claimed that the special Covid-19 mobile team never appeared at their address even though they had previously registered for this type of voting. The City Election Commission was notified of this issue. One report of the same type of irregularity was recorded in the case of voting through a regular mobile team.
Several reports were received through the online tool for reporting of irregularities. These cases refer to verification of location of the polling station through the CEC’s web site and to wearing political insignia during voting. There is a report of several cases of deceased people found in the voter list.
The Coalition also received a report on one case in which voters with the same address voted in different electoral areas.
OPENING AND ARRANGEMENT OF A POLLING STATION
Almost all Coalition’s observers were allowed unhindered access to the polling stations to which they were deployed. The problem with access was recorded in one case that was solved immediately in cooperation with the Mostar City Election Commission.
The requirement for all members of the polling station committee to be present at the polling station at 6 a.m. was not observed at 17.8% of the polling stations.
4.1% of the polling stations were not arranged according to the instruction of the Central Election Commission of BiH on Operations of the Election Management Bodies on the Election day in the Context of the Covid-19 Epidemic.
Almost a half of the polling stations did not display the list with names of members of the polling station committee indicating the political subjects they represented. The Coalition “Pod Lupom” stresses that it is necessary to publish the lists of members of the polling station committees displaying the names of the political subjects rather than their codes to contribute to transparency of the electoral process.
At the polling station 153 A 038, 29 ballot papers were missing for the City electoral unit compared to the number of voters entered in the Central Voter Register for that polling station. Ballot papers were not manually counted prior to the opening of the poll at three (3) polling stations.
At all polling stations, except for one, ballot box was shown to be empty prior to the opening of the polls.
Secrecy of the voting was ensured at all polling stations, i.e. voting booths were arranged in a way that no one could see how a voter marked his/her ballot.
The percentage of the polling stations that opened at 7 a.m. was 76.8%, while the remaining polling stations opened with up to one-hour delay.
THANK YOU
The Coalition “Pod Lupom” would like to thank the citizens non-partisan observers for observing the 2020 Mostar Local Elections at all polling stations.
The Coalition would like to thank the media outlets for covering the independent observation missions in the 2020 Local Elections in BiH and to most of the election administration bodies at all levels for their correct cooperation. We thank all other actors of the electoral process, and especially citizens voters for their support and confidence.
The Pod Lupom Coalition worked together with 85 civil society organizations to organize observation of the electoral process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Local Democracy Agency from Mostar joined the Coalition “Pod lupom” in implementation of the long-term observation of the local elections in Mostar and engagement of Election Day observers and the Coalition Pod lupom would like to thank them for their contribution to free and fair elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
