Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) next general election is to be held on Oct. 7, 2018, the Central Election Commission (CIK) announced in August.
Under one of the most complex electoral systems in the world, BiH voters will elect a tripartite members of presidency, which represents the three major ethnic groups of Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, and choose the members of state and entity-level assemblies.
CIK president Irena Hadziabdic said 3.38 million BiH citizens are eligible to vote and the total cost of the election will be 8.5 million convertible marks (5.16 million U.S. dollars).
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) opened an observation mission here with the aim of monitoring BiH upcoming general elections.
Following an invitation from the BiH authorities and under the OSCE’s auspices, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will observe the election process before, during, and after the election day, said head of the mission Ambassador Peter Tejler at a press conference earlier.
“The aim of the mission is to monitor the integrity of the voting process, and give a chance to every citizen to enjoy the universal and equal right to vote, and their votes to be counted and tabulated in the correct way,” Tejler said, adding that only in that way can the government’s legitimacy be achieved.
The mission will assess whether the process is transparent, and conducted in line with OSCE commitments of honesty, partiality, and secrecy and whether the results are announced honestly and in a transparent matter.
“We will remain independent, impartial, we are here to observe the elections according to the established electoral methodology. The mission will pay particular attention to the implementation of the BiH legislation, vote counting and tabulation,” Tejler emphasized.
The mission consists of a core team of 12 election experts, and 22 long-term observers to be deployed across the country.
On election day, an additional 300 short-term observers to monitor the proceedings of elections will be called to observe the polling stations.
European Union Delegation to BiH urged BH citizens to vote by stating the following: You want a change? Vote for a change. Not voting is the worst possible choice, because you waste your vote.” Watch EUBiH Chargé d’Affaires Khaldoun Sinno’s message to BiH citizens for the 2018 General Elections.
