The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections ”Pod lupom” (”Under the magnifying glass”) reported 17 political subjects to the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC BiH) for premature campaigning.
In the period from July 25th to August 7th, within the observation mission of the Coalition ”Under the magnifying glass” 191 electoral irregularities were recorded, representatives of this coalition said at a press conference in Banja Luka. The largest number of irregularities, 147, refers to the premature campaign. 125 cases of paid campaigns on social networks were recorded before the official, legally permitted start of the campaign in BiH.
“At this moment, it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that there are cases of premature election campaigns that are widespread, but which cannot be sanctioned due to the so-called gray zone that exists in the Election Law of BiH, which states that premature campaigns are only those that have been paid for,“ said Srdjan Ostojic, election analyst of the ”Under the magnifying glass’ Coalition.
In this way, explained Ostojic, political subjects have the possibility of promotion in different ways without, according to the interpretation of the current Election Law, being treated as a violation.
The Coalition ”Under the magnifying glass” states that they recorded two cases of biased media reporting in the observed period. Cases of out-of-date voter lists, misuse of personal data for voting from abroad, as well as irregularities concerning the work of the election administration were also recorded.
“We are not interested in the election results, we are interested in those results being the real result of the electoral will. We have been dedicatedly working on this for eight years,” said Ostojic.
In the ‘‘Under the magnifying glass” Coalition, they called on the citizens of BiH to exercise their civil rights and vote. Citizens are invited to report any pre-election and election irregularities they notice.
In this coalition, they state that in the observed period, progress was noticeable in the organization of local election commissions, but that, nevertheless, several irregularities and shortcomings were noticed.
Thus, according to the data of the ”Under the magnifying glass”Coalition, 49 local election commissions do not hold regular sessions, while observers were unable to get in touch with some of the commissions.
“One local election commission works with an incomplete composition, i.e. they don’t have all the members. It is in Donji Zabar. In three election commissions they say that they do not have adequate conditions for work. These are Banja luka, Livno and Travnik. Although this is an obligation prescribed by the CEC, two election commissions – Srbac and Velika Kladusa – do not yet have adopted rules of procedure. Eight local election commissions do not respect the provisions of the law related to gender equality,” said Hasan Kamenjakovic, coordinator for public relations in the ”Under the magnifying glass” Coalition, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
