At today’s session, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed fines on a number of political parties, coalitions and candidates for violating the provisions of the BiH Election Law. Most of the imposed sanctions relate to the premature conduct of the election campaign, while in some cases, other violations of election rules were also established.
According to the decisions of the CEC, fines in the amount of 164,000 KM were imposed on political subjects, while individual fines on candidates amounted to a total of 52,000 KM.
The largest amount of fines among political entities was imposed on the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). This party was fined a total of 92,000 KM, while SNSD candidates were individually fined a total of 21,000 KM.
One of the largest individual fines was imposed on Sanja Vulić, who was fined 8,000 KM. In this case, the CEC found a violation of election rules related to premature campaigning and the dissemination of inaccurate information, which, according to the reasoning of the decision, challenged the integrity of the election process.
The SNSD was additionally fined 8,000 KM for the performance of Nikola Špirić, i.e. for the content that the CEC assessed as presenting incorrect information that calls into question the integrity of the election process.
A special fine of 10,000 KM was imposed on the SNSD for abusing children in the election campaign.
Among the sanctioned political subjects is the Draško Stanivuković Coalition – Secure Srpska Movement, which was fined a total of 25,500 KM due to several cases of premature campaigning. The candidates of this coalition were fined an additional 13,000 KM.
The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP) was fined a total of 17,000 KM, also due to a premature campaign, while the fines imposed on its candidates amounted to 3,500 KM.
Due to premature running of the campaign, United Srpska was also sanctioned, which was fined 7,500 KM, while its candidates were fined a total of 6,500 KM.
The Republicans of BiH were fined 6,000 KM, and their candidate an additional 6,000 KM, also because of the premature campaign.
A fine of 6,000 KM was also imposed on the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) for premature campaigning.
The Croatian top five was fined 3,000 KM, while its candidates were fined an additional 2,000 KM. In this case too, the reason was the premature running of the election campaign.
The Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) was fined 3,500 KM, while the coalition NES, PDA, Naprijed was also fined the same amount, according to the decisions of the CEC.
The decisions were made within the framework of the procedures conducted by the CEC due to violations of the provisions of the BiH Election Law. On its website, the CEC maintains special categories of complaints and procedures related to, among other things, premature campaigning, spreading of disinformation, abuse of children, hateful language and speech, misuse of public resources and other possible violations of election rules.
The sanctioning of a premature campaign is particularly significant ahead of the 2026 General Election, scheduled for October 4. The CEC previously published an overview of its practice and the practice of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cases related to premature campaigning.
Today’s decisions represent another set of sanctions imposed by the CEC on political entities and candidates within the framework of monitoring compliance with election rules ahead of the elections.
According to the summary data from today’s decisions, political parties and coalitions were fined a total of 164,000 KM, while the total value of the fines imposed on the candidates was 52,000 KM.
