According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the total number of invalid ballots at all six electoral levels in the General Elections is 393,443.
Although the data show a downward trend in the number of invalid ballots in the election for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina compared to 2022, at the levels for the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, a significant number of invalid ballots were recorded that were not empty, but were declared invalid.
The non-governmental sector states that, despite the new rules and method of voting, the voters did well.
Ožegović: The voters were prepared
Damjan Ožegović, associate for legal affairs of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina, believes that the number of invalid ballots shows that the new voting rules did not represent a major obstacle for voters.
“The ballots were not overly complicated at all, and the number of invalid ballots supports the thesis that there were no major complications. Even more, the fact that a smaller number of invalid ballots were recorded at some levels perhaps speaks in favor of the thesis that a certain part of the electorate was clearly instructed and well prepared in advance how and for whom to vote, that is, how to vote for the political subjects they prefer,” Ožegović said.
