The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an observation mission for the 23 November early election of the president of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, following an invitation from the national authorities.
The mission is led by Mátyás Eörsi and consists of 11 international core team experts from 9 OSCE participating States based in Banja Luka from 28 October and four regional analysts from four different participating States deployed in teams of two across Republika Srpska from 31 October.
The mission will assess the conduct of the election for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards, as well as with national legislation.
Observers will closely assess a number of specific areas, including the conduct of the campaign also on social networks, the work of the election administration at all levels, election legislation and its implementation, campaign finance, media environment, and the resolution of election disputes.
Meetings with representatives of state and entity-level authorities and political parties, the judiciary, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.
The observers will not carry out any comprehensive observation of the voting, counting and tabulation on election day, but mission members will visit a limited number of polling stations.
The day after the election, a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be presented at a press conference. A final report containing an assessment of the entire election process and recommendations for future elections will be published some months after the election.
