The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented today devices for biometric identification and authentication of voters and optical scanners of ballots, which will be used in the General Election on October 4, 2026.
The President of the CEC of BiH, Jovan Kalaba, pointed out that the introduction of technology is a significant step in the modernization of the electoral process, but that technology is not an end in itself, Fena writes.
“The goal is to make the election process safer, more transparent, more efficient and more reliable for all participants. Thanks to accessible verification mechanisms built into every stage of the process, technology provides voters and all relevant actors with greater confidence in the results,” said Kalaba.
Biometric verification will enable a more reliable verification of the voter’s identity before issuing the ballot and help prevent multiple voting, voting on behalf of another person and the use of invalid identification documents.
Optical scanners will read and electronically count paper ballots, while keeping them for possible control, audit or recount purposes. This is expected to result in a more accurate and faster determination of the results and a faster publication of the preliminary election results.
Technical devices were presented by Mubera Vulović, Head of the Department for Information, International Cooperation and Protocol in the Secretariat of the CEC BiH and Professor Nermin Lapandić, who is the project manager of the temporary unit for the implementation of the project of introducing specific election technologies into the election process in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The introduction of new technologies aims to strengthen the integrity, transparency, accuracy and efficiency of the electoral process, with greater public confidence in the election results.
The biometric device will enable verification of the identity of the voter by reading the personal document and fingerprint. If the voter cannot provide a fingerprint, identification will be possible, in accordance with the rules of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through a PIN and a smart card, with such activity being recorded in the device.
The system will warn the polling board if the voter has already voted or is at the wrong polling station. Every device activity will be recorded through an encrypted audit trail.
The second system consists of optical scanners that will electronically read and count paper ballots, while keeping them safe for eventual audit or recount. It is expected that the technology will enable faster submission of preliminary election results and additional verifiability of the process.
The CEC of BiH states three key goals of the introduction of technologies: reliable identification of voters and prevention of multiple voting or voting in the name of another person, more accurate counting of votes and faster publication of preliminary results.
According to announcements by the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizens will continue to go through the basic steps of identification and signing of extracts from the Central Voters’ List, while the new technology will represent an additional verification and control mechanism.
CEC BiH is already conducting a campaign to inform voters about the new way of voting, including video instructions that guide citizens through the procedure at the polling station – from identification to inserting the ballot into the ballot box via scanner.
The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina emphasizes that each phase of the process will contain verification mechanisms, which further strengthens the confidence of voters and other participants in the electoral process.
The introduction of technologies was made possible by amendments to the BiH Election Law, which established the legal framework for the digitization of the election process.
The CEC of BiH is already conducting a citizen information campaign, including video instructions on the voting process – from voter identification to scanning and inserting the ballot into the ballot box.
