The General Elections held on October 4th were the first in Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement the new election technologies nationwide. The new technologies included biometric voter identification and authentication, ballot scanning, and fast transmission of results.
The IDDEEA stated that the first indicators following election day proved to be successful, with biometric identification at more than 97 percent, while the IDDEEA systems and infrastructure used for the electoral process did not have any recorded service disruptions during the entire day.
The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina was responsible for introducing and implementing the new election technologies, while the IDDEEA BiH was securing the key part of state digital infrastructure for voter identity verification, availability of official records and data on identification documents, web services, information systems and telecommunication infrastructure.
“Data from election day best show the scale of the process. Around 1.4 million citizens voted, while IDDEEA systems and services were continuously available to the election administration. IDDEEA expert teams tracked the operation of the system and infrastructure throughout the entire election day. They communicated directly with relevant institutions to respond to any issue without delay. Isolated difficulties related primarily to damaged identification documents, a certain number of national ID cards issued during September, and difficulty regarding fingerprints among elderly individuals and persons with damaged fingerprints. These situations did not lead to any downtime or unavailability of IDDEEA’s central systems.”
They added that before the elections and on the election day, IDDEEA enabled citizens to collect the documents required to exercise their voting rights.
“During October 3rd and 4th, a total of 770 submitted and delivered identification documents were recorded: 312 on Saturday and 458 on election day. A total of 666 documents were delivered to citizens, and 104 requests were received, with an additional 60 requests relating to permanent and temporary residence. Behind these results, there is a joint effort of the CEC BiH, election administration, election committees, operators, technical teams, IDDEEA, and other competent institutions. The first full implementation of the new technologies showed how important it is for the contemporary election process to have reliable state records, secure data exchange, and stable digital infrastructure. To IDDEEA, the election day represented one of the most demanding tests of the systems and infrastructure that the Agency is maintaining for the needs of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” they said.
They stated that the state digital infrastructure was stable and reliable.
“The result is highly measurable and concrete because, with a biometric identification success rate exceeding 97 percent, around 1.4 million voters exercising their right to vote, 666 identification documents delivered immediately before and on election day, and zero recorded downtime for IDDEEA’s system throughout the entire election day. When it mattered most, the state digital infrastructure operated stably and reliably,” they stated.
The IDDEEA congratulated the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina on conducting the election process, all institutions and people who participated in its realization, especially citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who, throughout their turnout at the polls and the free expression of their will, have once again demonstrated that democracy belongs to citizens and that it is precisely their vote that builds the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
