While the voting is going on, buying votes in the elections is no longer a secret. In recent days, several confirmations for such a claim have arrived. Instead of a holiday of democracy, elections thus become a state of emergency in which illegal trade flourishes.
How do such manipulations affect the mood of voters and can they be stopped? In the competent institutions – for now they have no answer.
The arrest of three people for election fraud the day before, additionally shocks the recognition of those who should influence the creation of the law and the electoral environment, BHRT reports.
“There are no more sinners here or less sinners. Everyone does that, at least according to the information that comes to me. I condemn it no matter what political option it came from. I am a legalist, I respect the will of the voters, and that purchase primarily goes to those who sell votes, “said the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Viskovic.
“One cannot participate fairly in elections.” According to the testimony of our interlocutor, these are the words of the leader of a political party behind the scenes of the election stage. Vehid Sehic, a former member of the BiH Election Commission, adds that this is a public secret and only one of the ways to criminalize the election process. He claims that already now some political parties, e.g. they know the exact number of votes they will receive through postal voting.
“Only when the penalties are provided for political entities for which responsibility is determined, one of the sanctions may be that they cannot participate in the next elections not only as a political entity but also the responsible persons of that political entity. We will create preconditions for the election process to return to what should be “, believes Sehic.
Election fraud has a double effect, says political analyst Tanja Topic. A certain number of people agree to sell their vote without considering it problematic, while some will decide not to vote because they do not see the point.
