Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 2026 general elections will bring one of the biggest changes to the country’s electoral process, with biometric voter identification and authentication, ballot scanners and electronic transmission of election results being used for the first time.
The new technologies were discussed at the conference “What Can We Expect from the 2026 Elections: New Election Technologies, Election Integrity and Democratic Election Campaign,” organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Civil Society BiH.
Rick Holtzapple, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the technologies are intended to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process.
“These technologies are designed to strengthen election integrity through more accurate voter identification and vote counting, as well as faster transmission of results.”
According to Vanja Bjelica-Prutina of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, biometric identification will help prevent several forms of electoral fraud.
“Fingerprint scanners and biometrics directly eliminate identity theft, voting in the name of the dead and improper counting of ballots.”
CEC representatives stressed that the new election cycle is taking place amid significant political polarization. They called on candidates and political parties to respect the Election Law, warning that violations will be sanctioned.
Bjelica-Prutina emphasized, however, that technology cannot address every form of electoral abuse.
“Our role is not only to punish, although we will do so without hesitation when necessary, but the basic role is to ensure a fair play campaign for everyone. Scanners cannot prevent vote buying and misuse of public resources or other abuses before election day.”
Civil society organizations have raised concerns about precisely these issues. Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina warned about vote buying and the misuse of public resources, particularly through one-time payments and other benefits distributed to various groups of citizens during the election period.
According to data presented by Transparency International BiH, almost KM 68 million has been distributed through such measures since the election was announced.
Srđan Blagovčanin of Transparency International BiH said the practice represents a systemic problem.
“Mass, systematic abuse of public resources has been happening for several weeks or even months. One-time payments to pensioners, children in schools, workers in the public sector… This is nothing but a drastic abuse of public resources and it is a systemic problem of BiH.”
BIRN also warned about the scale of potential abuses connected to public procurement. Denis Džidić said hundreds of millions of KM worth of tenders announced this year have raised concerns, with many alleged abuses occurring at the local level.
“The largest number of abuses is at the local, municipal level, where they promote themselves by renovating playgrounds, parts of roads and the like.”
Despite these concerns, the introduction of new election technologies is expected to increase public confidence and encourage citizens to participate in the elections.
Dario Jovanović of the Coalition “Under Lupom” said the country now has the conditions for what could be its fairest elections to date.
“We have the prerequisites for the freest and fairest elections so far! The implementation of new election technologies prevents proven election theft and fraud.”
The new technologies are expected to represent an important step toward greater security, transparency and accuracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral process.
However, participants at the conference stressed that technology alone cannot guarantee election integrity. While biometric identification and ballot scanners can help protect the vote at polling stations, they cannot prevent vote buying, misuse of public resources, political pressure or other abuses that can take place before voters even reach the polling station.
Ultimately, the credibility of the 2026 elections will depend not only on the technology being introduced, but also on the willingness of political actors to respect the rules and institutions to effectively sanction violations.
