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SARAJEVO, November 16 (FENA) - At most polling stations, election day was held in accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina with certain irregularities that are traditionally repeated.
This is a preliminary assessment of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Under the Magnifying Glass" (Pod lupom), made today at a press conference in Sarajevo, noting that a significant democratic step forward was made in the recently held Local Elections in BiH.
The coalition is of the opinion "that as a society we have shown maturity in the newly emerging epidemiological circumstances (Covid-19), but also in the political and democratic sense."
This is illustrated by the appearance that for the first time no one questioned the election results, and that there was no celebration of election success, which, according to the Coalition, speaks of responsible behavior in accordance with the measures in force due to the pandemic.
"Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition, together with 85 civil society organizations and informal groups, observed the election day with 2,600 civic, non-partisan observers in the field, focusing on the opening of polling stations, the voting and closing of polling stations, and critical situations in the field.
President of the Strategic Board of the Coalition, Vehid Šehić, expressed his gratitude to the citizens of BiH who went to the polls in complex circumstances, as well as to most political entities that complied with the provisions of the Election Law on Election Day.
Commenting on a journalist's inquiry regarding the deceased candidate for mayor of Travnik, who won the largest number of votes in the elections, he stated that this is a specific situation that, unfortunately, the BiH Election Law did not regulate.
He added that due to the gap in the Law, the decision in this regard must be made by the Central Election Commission of BiH and that the dissatisfied party has the right to appeal the decision to the Court of BiH.
Project Manager of the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition, Dario Jovanović, reminded that a combination of various election irregularities was noticed in about four percent of polling stations, "which indicates the possibility of targeted manipulations of the election process."
For the first time, the Coalition monitored the information on the turnout in the elections, and recorded a turnout of 51 percent in the local elections on Sunday until 7 pm.
He recalled, at the same time, that 75 per cent of 'critical situations' were resolved during election day in co-operation with the election administration.
Most of these situations related to the ban on observation of voting (59), irregularities in voting (45) and lack of election material (18).
According to the presented indicators, 98 percent of observers were given unhindered access to the polling stations to which they were deployed, and 86 percent of polling station committee members arrived on time, while 84 percent of polling stations opened at exactly 7 o'clock.
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