Member of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC BiH) Željko Bakalar assessed that the recent General Elections represented a major step forward in implementing the electoral process thanks to the introduction of new technologies.
Speaking about the processing of results, possible recount requests, irregularities and objections, he emphasized that preliminary results will not change significantly, but that changes in the distribution of some seats are not ruled out.
Preliminary Results Will Not Change Significantly
Speaking about vote processing, Bakalar said about two percent of results remain unprocessed or untransferred.
“Preliminary results certainly won’t change significantly, considering that up to this moment we have about two percent of unprocessed, untransferred results,” Bakalar said.
He explained that election commissions and relevant services are reviewing remaining results, including eventual mathematical inconsistencies between scanned data and figures entered into the forms.
According to him, results must be verified no later than 20 days after the election, while the legal deadline for their confirmation is 30 days, or exceptionally up to 45 days in cases of more complex appeal proceedings.
When asked if complaints or recounts could change the distribution of seats, he replied:
“Theoretically, it is possible, but we cannot prejudge if it will come to that.”
New Technologies Enabled Faster Results and Turnout Control
Bakalar described the introduction of new technologies as a historic step forward in the election process of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This is the first time in the history of democratic elections of Bosnia and Herzegovina that such a historic revolution related to the election process was made,” he said.
He emphasized that the elections were organized despite the fact that one key prerequisite was not fulfilled – strengthening CEC’s capacities.
“The Council of Ministers rejected our request for the adoption of a new rulebook on job classification. Despite everything, with such limited human resources, we managed to make this step forward. Already at our press conference held shortly after 8 PM, we had preliminary results from more than 82 percent of polling stations, and by the end of the conference, that percentage rose to 91.8 percent,” he said.
Significantly Reduced Space for Traditional Electoral Fraud
Speaking about the prevention of electoral manipulation, Bakalar emphasized that the new technologies made voting on behalf of other individuals and stuffing extra ballots significantly more difficult.
“They eliminated some traditional and well-known electoral manipulations, such as voting in someone else’s name. Now we have the ability to record actual turnout—to know how many people actually showed up physically, possessed valid identification documents, and underwent biometric authentication,” he explained.
He estimated that new technologies have taken away more than 90 percent of the space previously used for traditional electoral fraud.
Bakalar: The Question Is How Realistic the Voter Register Is
Commenting on turnout, Bakalar noted that 1,427,796 voters were identified at the elections, but raised the question of the credibility of the total number of registered voters.
“The question is whether our voter register is inflated, and whether 3,414,000 voters truly live in BiH or if that number is smaller,” he said.
Fewer Invalid Ballots for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reflecting on the number of invalid ballots, Bakalar emphasized that a decrease was recorded in certain electoral races compared to previous election cycles.
“When speaking about the level of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2018 the number of invalid ballots was 6.63 percent; in 2022 it was 6.65 percent, whereas in these elections it stands at 4.38 percent. This represents a significant decrease,” he said.
A similar trend was recorded in the elections for the President of Republika Srpska, where the number of invalid ballots reduced to 4.73 percent.
On the other hand, a slight increase was recorded in the elections for the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 8.38 percent to 8.68 percent.
Bakalar believes that part of the increase could stem from changes in voting habits and voter adjustment to the new ballot formats.
“My personal opinion is that this might be the result of changing voter habits,” he said, adding that the detailed analysis will be possible once the election materials and equipment are returned.
Fraud Claims Alone Are Not Enough for a Recount
Explaining the conditions for a vote recount, Bakalar stated that the CEC can act upon requests from political entities and other authorized applicants, as well as on its own initiative, once it confirms the circumstances that could affect the final results.
He especially emphasized situations in which irregularities could determine crossing the three percent electoral threshold, the distribution of seats among political entities or the candidate order within party lists.
“We can order a recount on our own initiative and establish these details. They must submit physical evidence and specify at which polling stations the irregularities occurred,” he stressed.
When asked about Slaven Kovačević’s claims regarding the number of votes Darijana Filipović received, Bakalar said that by the end of that working day, he had no information that such a complaint had been formally received.
Political Pressure and Electoral Process Security
Bakalar confirmed that CEC members have faced political pressure for years, but said he has never personally experienced direct threats, or at least did not perceive them as such.
“This has been going on for many years. I think it is well known what kinds of sources create these types of pressure. One colleague has 24-hour police protection,” he said.
Speaking about the protection of new technologies against potential cyberattacks, he emphasized that during election day, indicators of such attacks were not recorded.
“We put in maximum effort to test cybersecurity and ran simulations of everything that could potentially happen during test elections,” he said.
He explained that scanners were not connected to the internet during voting and were only activated to transmit results after polling stations closed, whereas biometric devices transmitted turnout data throughout the day.
“These devices have very strong encryption and access protection. A biometric device cannot receive arbitrary data; it can only transmit data,” he explained.
Proposes Additional Technologies and Raising the Electoral Threshold to 5%
Speaking about potential improvements for future elections, Bakalar proposed expanding biometric identification to voting via mobile teams and at diplomatic and consular representations.
“I think I would perhaps introduce some additional technologies,” he said.
He also stressed the need for better training of polling station boards and more adequate compensation for members of municipal and city election commissions.
“These compensations are sometimes very meager, yet these people work hard and dedicatedly for many years. I believe this should be standardized so that these people are valued more, as they are truly the circulatory system of the election administration,” he emphasized.
At the conclusion of the interview, he offered his personal opinion on changing the electoral threshold.
“When speaking about the electoral system, my personal view is that in order to reduce political corruption, the electoral threshold should be raised to five percent,” Bakalar concluded.
