{"id":20570,"date":"2025-11-23T10:59:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/podlupom.org\/?p=20570"},"modified":"2025-11-23T10:59:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:59:50","slug":"pod-lupom-calm-start-to-election-day-with-several-recorded-procedural-and-legal-irregularities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/podlupom.org\/en\/press\/news\/pod-lupom-calm-start-to-election-day-with-several-recorded-procedural-and-legal-irregularities\/","title":{"rendered":"Pod lupom: Calm Start to Election Day, with Several Recorded Procedural and Legal Irregularities"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections \u201cPod lupom\u201d informs the public that for the Early Election for the President of Republika Srpska from among the Serb people, it has deployed nearly 400 citizen, non-partisan election day observers who will monitor the entire election process at approximately every fifth polling station across Republika Srpska. The observers will monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting process, the closing of polling stations, the counting of ballots, the packaging of election materials, and voter turnout.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coalition\u2019s Call Center is receiving all field data, while the Legal Team of the Coalition \u201cPod lupom\u201d is working on addressing the identified irregularities. Reporting is conducted in real time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our observers have been deployed to a representative sample of selected polling stations throughout all parts of Republika Srpska, enabling statistically reliable monitoring and reporting on the course of election day. In this way, the Coalition \u201cPod lupom\u201d will obtain a trustworthy overview of the regularity of the election process, the Coalition stated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Access of Observers to Polling Stations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost all observers of the Coalition \u201cPod lupom\u201d began their monitoring activities without obstruction. Unfortunately, in a small number of cases, observers could not access polling stations due to severe weather conditions, procedural obstacles, or outright denial of access (Tesli\u0107 \u2013 074B002B; Petrovo \u2013 045B006). All cases involving denial of access have been resolved, and observers have since continued their monitoring without interruption.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Opening of Polling Stations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The majority of polling stations opened on time. Precisely at 7:00 a.m., 92.6% of polling stations opened; from 7:01 to 7:15, an additional 6.5% opened; and 0.9% opened with delays up to 8:00 a.m.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the latest information, due to severe weather conditions, voting will not take place at at least one polling station. The weather conditions that have recently affected Bosnia and Herzegovina may also impact voter turnout.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Election Irregularities<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 9:00 a.m., the Coalition \u201cPod lupom\u201d had recorded 10 serious election irregularities, including:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n