The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has released new and worrying information regarding the early presidential elections in Republika Srpska, held in late November. At today’s session of the CEC, member Vanja Bjelica-Prutina reported that at least 1,660 voters voted without valid identification documents, which is a serious violation of the electoral process.
According to her, irregularities of this type were recorded at 701 polling stations within 57 electoral units throughout Republika Srpska. Among the locations that were particularly highlighted are Bratunac, where 117 people voted without proper documentation, then Zvornik with as many as 497 such cases, and Doboj with 120 irregular votes.
Bjelica-Prutina stressed that she expects an urgent reaction from the competent prosecutor’s offices, emphasizing that they are “obliged to act as a priority” in such situations. Her position was also supported by other members of the Commission. Željko Bakalar confirmed that a full report on the irregularities observed would be forwarded to the prosecutors’ offices, while Irena Hadžiabdić said that the assessment of the overall extent of the electoral irregularities had not yet been completed.
Recall that according to the preliminary results previously published by the CEC, SNSD candidate Siniša Karan won the most votes, leaving behind SDS candidate Branko Blanuša with a margin of just over 9,000 votes.
Opposition parties in the Republika Srpska reacted immediately after the elections, claiming that the elections were marked by numerous omissions and irregularities. Therefore, they filed requests for a repeat of the elections in several local communities. In response to these allegations, the CEC ordered a control count of ballots at a large number of polling stations, which will include thousands of ballots.
