The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod Lupom,” which, together with 85 civil society organizations and informal groups observes the pre-election period in BiH, presented today at a press conference in Banja Luka the first findings of its long-term observation for the first two weeks of reporting, July 25 – August 7, 2022.
The Coalition registered a total of 191 election irregularities. Most of them relate to a premature campaign during a time when it is prohibited. A total of 147 registered cases relate to premature campaigning whereof 125 cases concern paid advertising on social media. The Coalition has thus far reported to the Central Election Commission 17 political subjects or candidates of political subjects. In the coming period, the Pod Lupom Coalition will continue the processing of information and filing of reports with CEC BiH.
However, it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that there are widespread cases of premature campaigning that cannot be sanctioned due to a “grey” zone that exists in the Election Law of BiH which states that a premature election campaign is a campaign that is paid, under which political subjects have the possibility to work on many activities that fall under promotional efforts, but which cannot be addressed by the current law.
The next most frequent election irregularity refers to the misuse of public resources and abuse of position most often through the intensification of public works and public officials’ participation in the campaigns of political subjects. The Coalition registered 24 such cases, whereof 20 of them referred to the misuse of public sources in 18 municipalities and cities, and four cases of public officials participating in campaigning in four municipalities and cities (Brčko District, Jablanica, Rudo, and Vitez).
Other cases of observed election irregularities relate to the following: two cases of inappropriate speech directed at opposition parties in Banja Luka and Stari Grad Sarajevo, two cases of biased media reporting in Stari Grad Sarajevo and Bratunac, one case involving inaccurate voter register in Ključ, one case in Bratunac regarding the misuse of personal information for voting from abroad.
The Coalition’s long-term observers, in addition to observing the work and sessions of the local election commission, monitor the activities set forth in the electoral calendar and compliance with the deadlines. At this moment, progress is notable in the work of the election administration at the local level, with certain exceptions.
From July 25 to August 7, the local election commissions held a total of 190 sessions. It raises concerns that as many as 49 local election commissions are not having regular weekly sessions. The Coalition says that observers still cannot establish communication with a certain number of local election commissions and therefore have no insight into whether they are working by election rules.
One local election commission (Donji Žabar) is still not fully staffed, and 51 local election commissions have no secretary, which is not a requirement, but a possibility. Three local election commissions, Banja Luka, Livno, and Novi Travnik, state that they do not have adequate working conditions.
Even though it is instructed by CEC, two local election commissions (Srbac and Velika Kladuša) still have not adopted Rules of Procedures. Eight local election commissions do not comply with the provisions of the law concerning gender equality.
The local election commissions comply with the deadlines provided in the electoral calendar. As regards the work of the voter register centers, there was only one case in Ključ where the center does not timely or professionally provide information to citizens.
During the reporting period, one political subject filed a complaint to the local election commission in Livno. The complaint refers to the Rulebook on determining qualifications and procedure for appointment of the polling station committees’ members, and according to Coalition’s information, this error has been rectified.
The Coalition states that the citizens’ observation mission for the 2022 General election in BiH will engage over 2 000 nonpartisan, election day observers at polling stations across BiH. The Coalition calls on citizens to call the toll-free number 080 05 05 05 or visit www.podlupom.org to apply to become observers or to report all observed irregularities as early as today.
