prijava
SARAJEVO, November 8 (FENA) - Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the elections in the City of Mostar on November 15 and December 20, respectively, will be held in specific epidemiological conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Suad Arnautović, in an interview with FENA, said that the pandemic, which affected the whole world, demands a special approach by the election administration.
Noting that the election process in BiH gathers a large number of voters, election observers, election administration, media and other interested persons, he stated that in such conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, which unfortunately does not abate, it was necessary for the CEC BiH, as a regulator of the election process in BiH, prepare and adopt a legal framework that will prescribe the conduct, first of all the bodies for conducting elections in the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic on election day, and on the other hand, give recommendations to other participants, primary voters and observers, i.e., political entities.
Arnautović says that the CEC BiH has issued the Instruction on the conduct of the election administration bodies in the conditions of the Covid-19 epidemic, which prescribes behavior at polling stations, municipal and city election commissions, the Central Commission of BiH, the Main Counting Center in Sarajevo and employees in the main storage of the CEC BiH.
He explains that this instruction prescribes the rules of conduct at the polling stations on election day, how to control the order at a polling station, to warn voters of the need to maintain social distance, proper wearing of face masks, mandatory disinfection, etc.
"A novelty is an Ordinance amending the existing Ordinance on the conduct of elections regulating the way in which persons infected with Covid-19 on election day, who are hospitalized or possibly in isolation and self-isolation, can vote. Not only those people who are infected but also people who have been in contact with persons infected because they too must be in isolation.
We have prescribed this in such a way that active registration of such persons is required. Since these persons obviously will not be able to leave the hospital or their own apartment and house on election day, they need to contact their municipal, city election commission and submit a request for a special mobile team to come to their home address and allow such a voter to vote," explained Arnautović.
He adds that they have taken certain measures in the activities of informing the public, and recorded a special set of video materials available on the website of the CEC BiH, and the latest project is Viber Chatbot, which allows all voters who use Viber as a means of communication to learn about all the nformation related to this election process.
Asked whether it will be possible to comply with all recommendations in order to ensure epidemiological conditions for voting and whose obligation was to provide financial resources for that, Arnautović pointed out that the provision of material and technical resources is the exclusive competence of local communities.
"The protection of the health of the population is in the exclusive competence of the lower levels of government. Mayors and municipal mayors whose term has been extended, by interpretation of the High Representative until the election, have been obliged, and it is not too late, to ensure the minimum hygienic and epidemiological means needed at the polling stations, such as hygiene products, prescribed disinfectants, masks, etc.," said Arnautović.
As a positive example, he mentioned the City of Bijeljina and the mayor there and the city election commission, which provided everything that is needed as prescribed by the CEC BiH. He added that there are dozens of other municipalities and cities that have absolutely provided material and technical means to protect their population.
Speaking about the organization of voting at polling stations on election day and some objections to limiting the number of observers, Arnautović strongly denied that the BiH CEC has passed any regulation limiting the number of observers at the polling stations or restricting any voter from voting.
"We have only conveyed through our instructions what has already been prescribed, first of all from the World Health Organization, and then from domestic bodies in the field of health protection. When we said, for example, that a minimum of 1.5 meters of social distance is observed at the polling station, that is no restriction. The members of the polling station committee in charge of establishing order at the polling station will ensure that voters who come to vote are 1.5 meters away from each other. Therefore, that is not a restriction," Arnautović explains.
He adds that the second thing relates to the number of observers who can be at the polling station at one time.
Arnautović underlines that this issue has caused somewhat of a controversy, however, the BiH CEC "is not above the regulation called the BiH Election Law, and that law explicitly states in Chapter 17, that every political entity has the right to observe the entire election process."
"Therefore, we have not made any decision to limit the number, but we all need to be disciplined," says Arnautović.
He explains that there is a discrepancy between what is a regulation, what is right and what are the real possibilities.
We have a large number of polling stations that are in small spaces.
"It is a problem that we are such a society that we are not able to have large halls, large schools and large facilities in all cities, in all municipalities, where there could be large spaces to fit in all the observers in one place," said Arnautović.
He appealed to political entities to have an understanding for this matter and that, in cooperation with municipal and city election commissions, they accept and understand that not everyone can be at the polling station at the same time, but that there should be a mutual understanding that will allow, through rotation, observes to take part in the election process.
Speaking about the way of voting for people who will have to be isolated on election day due to Covid-19, he reminded that it is common to have regular mobile teams that are in operation for those people who have already registered, which was necessary to be done up to 10 days before election day so that these mobile teams reach out to them and so that they could vote. These are people who are in hospitals, penitentiaries, gerontology centers, nursing homes, or people who are in their homes but are incapacitated and cannot come to a regular polling station.
He appealed that observers of political entities, non-governmental organizations and international observers do not avoid going with mobile teams visiting citizens who register for this way of voting.
"The best way is to observe possible mistakes by observing the election process in time and prevent possible misuses. It is very important that we have a transparent process that is ensured by the participation of a large number of observers of this election process," stressed Arnautović.
In the end, he pointed out that the best way to prevent any misuse is to go to the polls.
"For this election cycle, we have adopted the slogan 'Choose - Your Right!', which can, depending on how you read it, be understood in two ways: it is your right to choose and that you should stand for your rights. I would call on all voters to use their right, to go out on election day, to give their vote to their candidates and political entities. I especially call on young people, especially those who are eligible to exercise their right for the first time, to use that right and go to the polls. It is very important that we all go out and vote on November 15 in all municipalities, and on December 20 in Mostar," concluded Arnautović.
(FENA) S. R.
