Central Election Commission schedules elections at several levels for October 4, while preparing to introduce new biometric voter identification and ballot-scanning technology.
Azem Kurtic
Ballot scanners tested during the 2024 local elections. Photo: N1.
The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, CEC, on Friday scheduled elections for October 4. Some 3.4 million voters will have the right to vote, according to the Central Voters Register.
Elections have been called for the state Presidency, whose Bosniak and Croat members are voted from the Federation entity, while the Serb member is chosen in Bosnia’s other entity, Republika Srpska.
Elections are also called for the Houses of Representatives in the state-level parliament and in the Federation entity, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, for the president and vice-presidents of Republika Srpska, and for the assemblies of the Federation’s ten cantons.
“The election campaign begins on September 4, and from today until then, both paid political advertising and premature campaigning are prohibited. This means that any form of promotion or presentation of candidates and party programmes is banned,” the CEC stated after the session.
All members of the CEC voted in favour of calling the elections; officials explained that the results should be confirmed no later than November 20. Deadlines were also set for the registration of parties and candidates.
The CEC also plans to adopt a rulebook on the use of new election technologies, which should be fully implemented by October.
“A very challenging period lies ahead because a lot of time was lost due to the lengthy public procurement procedure [for the new equipment], but I believe we will implement the new election technologies in the upcoming elections,” CEC president Jovan Kalaba said after the session.
In March, the CEC selected the company Smartmatic as the preferred bidder in the procurement procedure for equipment used for biometric voter identification and ballot scanning at polling stations. The four-year contract is worth 74.5 million Bosnian marks, or some 38.1 million euros. However, legal challenges to the decision are expected.
According to the company’s website, Smartmatic equipment has been used in elections in more than 35 countries since 2000. Although founded in the United States, the company is headquartered in the United Kingdom.
The company says its technologies have been used to count more than 6.5 billion votes worldwide. It also states that it has deployed more than two million devices across over 140 elections, including voting machines, voter registration systems and biometric verification devices.
