In recent days, there have been public speculations that the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CEC BiH) could prolong the General Elections, which are scheduled for October 4, due to the process of introducing new election technologies.
The aforementioned speculations about the postponement of the elections appeared in the public eye due to the delay in the procurement of devices for the biometric identification of voters and the scanning of ballots. Many questioned whether the training of observers will be carried out on time.
Namely, the CEC recently signed a contract for the procurement of a system for the biometric identification of voters and the scanning of ballots at polling stations. The total value of the contract is 74,527,455.84 BAM.
When we talk about electoral technologies, we mean systems for biometric identification of voters and scanning of ballots at polling stations, including all the necessary components: equipment, software, consumables, technical support, printing of ballots, storage and distribution to competent electoral authorities, with the aim of ensuring safe, transparent and efficient conduct of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The implementation of the contract will be carried out in three phases: Phase A, which refers to the delivery of electronic equipment and education of equipment users, Phase B, which refers to transport services, and Phase C, which refers to the services of printing and packing ballots.
Given that the elections are taking place in four months, many have expressed doubts about whether the Central Election Commission will have time to prepare everything related to the new election technologies.
Klix.ba asked the CEC how long the contract implementation phases will last and whether it is possible that the elections will be prolonged. In its response, the CEC did not specify how long the implementation phases would last.
“The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after signing the contract for the procurement of a system for the biometric identification of voters and scanning of ballots at polling stations, is currently agreeing with the contractor on a dynamic plan, about which the public will be informed in a timely manner. The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not take a position on the possible postponement of the elections,” they stated in their response to Klix.ba.
Former member of the Electoral Commission and current member of the Coalition under scrutiny, Vehid Šehić, denied the speculations that appeared in the public and clarified the circumstances under which the election can be postponed.
“The electoral law provides for the postponement of elections if there are any extraordinary situations. In such cases, the elections are postponed for a maximum period of 30 days, with the proviso that they cannot be held in the first seven days after the decision on postponement has been made. The electoral law of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides that we will vote normally, by hand, as before, with the fact that voter identification will be done through an identification machine, and ballots will be scanned and the results from each individual ballot will be determined ballot,” he said.
He added that there is currently no reason to postpone the election.
“The decision of the High Representative which amended the Electoral Law foresees the introduction of new technologies, so the classic way of voting remains as it is now. Nothing will change when it comes to new technologies either, because each of us will receive a ballot, go to a place where the secrecy of the vote is ensured and give preferences to a political entity or a candidate of a political entity that is on the candidate list. There is no reason to postpone it, there was a lot of talk about it earlier, but the elections will in any case be held because it clearly states: if, according to the Election Law and the implemented acts, elections cannot be held due to some force majeure, then they are postponed. Here, according to the Election Law, they can be held in compliance with all rules of procedure, regulations, that is, all by-laws adopted by the Central Election Commission,” he said.
Šehić states that these are speculations that he spoke about earlier, even before the decision of the Central Election Commission to hold the election. He emphasizes that the allegations about postponing the elections are absolutely unacceptable and speculative.
“If the Central Election Commission cannot conduct elections in accordance with the law, as, for example, was the case in Jablanica when there were large floods, where objectively due to a natural disaster you could not hold elections. But the deadline is clear there, that elections must be held within 30 days. The Central Election Commission did so, in accordance with the law. If an earthquake happens, those are emergency situations. But this, there is no reason. There is absolutely no legal reason to they are delaying the elections,” he stressed.
He also reminded that in the local elections of 2024, there were new technologies in about 400 polling stations as a pilot project. As explained by Šehić, in 99 percent of cases it turned out to be absolutely justified for the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to introduce them in all subsequent elections.
Also, recently the Deputy Minister of Finance of BiH, Muhamed Hasanović, signed an order for the payment of funds to the Central Election Commission of BiH for the implementation of the General Elections, which were scheduled for October this year.
With the aforementioned instruction, 24 million BAM were secured for the implementation of the General Elections, which should be held on October 4, Klix.ba writes.
