Political parties, coalitions and independent candidates who participated in the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a legal deadline for removing election posters and other promotional material used during the pre-election campaign.
According to Article 7.2 paragraph (4) of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, political subjects are obliged to ensure the removal of all advertisements, placards, posters and other similar material from the area designated for the campaign within 15 days of the holding of the election.
Since the General Election was held on October 4, the deadline for fulfilling this obligation expires today, October 19.
The obligation to remove promotional material was introduced by amendments to the Election Law of BiH, which was passed by High Representative Christian Schmidt in March 2024, and is also prescribed by Article 15 of the Rulebook on Media Representation and Public Advertising of Political Entities in the Election Period.
For political entities that do not remove the material used during the campaign within the prescribed period, the Election Law foresees fines ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 KM.
The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina previously clarified that municipal and city election commissions have first-instance jurisdiction to decide on complaints submitted for violation of this legal provision.
The responsibility for the removal of promotional material rests with the political entities that used it during the campaign, and the obligation refers to posters, ads and other similar materials placed in areas designated for election promotion, Fena writes.
