Congress Election Observation Mission – 28 September to 3 October 2016

2 October 2016 Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Speech by Stewart Dickson (United-Kingdom, ILDG), Head of the Congress’ delegation to observe Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo, 3 October 2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very happy to welcome you to this press conference of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

My name is Stewart DICKSON, I am the Head of the Congress delegation, and back home I am a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, a regional parliament in the United Kingdom.

You may know that the Congress has been invited to observe yesterday's local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina - what we did in some 150 polling stations throughout the country, from the opening to the counting. Our delegation comprised 32 observers from 22 European countries and it included five members of the EU Committee of the Regions in Brussels, the Congress' strategic  partner in observing elections at the local and regional level. Mr Adam BANASZAK from Poland, at my side, is representing the Committee of the Regions at this media briefing. He will answer your questions from this perspective.

In those polling stations we observed the local elections yesterday; the atmosphere was generally open and peaceful.  Most of our Congress' observers described the Election Day even as uneventful - which is, in general, a good sign of elections held in line with international standards. It is therefore regrettable that a few incidents in some places, for example in Srebrenica and in Stolac, have cast a shadow on elections which can be described as conducted in an overall calm and orderly manner. With regard to the Central Election Commission, we had the impression that everything was done to prepare these elections professionally.

Since issues over the Referendum held in Republika Sprska on 25 September have diverted public attention during the electoral campaign, it bears mentioning that, in the whole country, clearly more than 50 % of the voters turned out on Election Day.

Besides the before mentioned incidents including the late opening of a polling station, a broken seal of a ballot box and  tensions inside polling stations between members of ethnic groups, the Congress teams observed, in particular, the use of mobile phones during polling, cases of family voting and groups of men loitering around outside polling stations for unclear purposes. We can also say that voters, in particular the elderly, had sometimes difficulties to understand the ballot and that the secrecy of the vote was not always respected, often due to the lack of space in the polling stations.

At the same time, it is important to mention that, technically speaking, the Polling Station Commissions were, by and large, functioning properly and were able to manage the processes in line with the regulations. There were also many young people performing as members of commissions which is a positive sign.  Pod-Lupom - a platform bringing together  non-government organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina - was present as domestic observer in more or less all polling stations visited by the Congress. Also this helps building trust in electoral processes.

Already during our meetings with representatives of the electoral administration prior the Election Day, notably with the Central Election Commission, we had the impression that - at this level - everything possible was done to prepare these elections in a professional manner and according to international standards for democratic elections.

At the same time, we should not be in denial of some basic and recurring issues related to electoral processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, let me mention three of them:

First, the quality of voters' lists and the fact that individuals remain on these lists who have already left the county many years ago and they reside - de facto - abroad. This situation bears the risk of electoral fraud, notably phantom voters and multiple-voting.

We acknowledge that, compared to the last local elections held in 2012, the system of the so-called "tendered ballots" has been overhauled in a way that only out of country-voters who suddenly showed up in their municipality on E-Day and voters who turned 18 recently were covered by the "tendered ballot"-system involving special envelopes.

Nonetheless, the essential remains unspoken -  we from the Congress believe that only individuals who permanently reside in a specific municipality with their very center of life  in this place should have the right to vote in elections of mayors and councilors. In other words, only those who actually live there permanently should decide on local matters. As a consequence, the voters' lists should be modified accordingly.

Second, the level of transparency of procedures, in particular with regard to the vote counting and processing of data from the level of the precincts to the Municipal Election Commissions.  We can say that most of our Congress' observers assessed yesterday's counting procedures as efficient and without major problems in the respective polling stations.

We also appreciate that the Central Election Commission has been advocating a new procedure for the so-called "correct counting" in case of doubtful results reported  by polling stations.

However, overall, we think that the implementation of effective safeguards against any kind of manipulation during the counting and tabulation of results needs to be further addressed by the authorities. There has been mention of the introduction of electronic counting systems for future elections - and we are confident that at the level of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina there will be openness also in this respect.

Thirdly,  there is the issue of vote-buying which was mentioned by Congress' interlocutors already during the preparatory meetings and was also a matter of concern during the Election Day. We are aware that voters have been informed  of the consequences of this criminal act. Nonetheless, the Congress' observers heard reports of vote-buying and that not only cash money but also food packages, petrol allotments and other benefits have been offered as a quid pro quo. There was also the issue of "assisted" voting which seemed sometimes dubious, in particular in regions where our observers got the impression of controlled voting or of intimidation of voters.

In respect of the overall situation of local democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we can say that political allegiance - also at the local level - is still based on ethnic identity including nationalistic attitudes and that, regrettably,  there is division rather than a feeling of unity and responsibility for a common future among the political actors of this country. There is also a lack of clear-cut responsibilities for local self-government issues, in particular at the level of the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A new law on local self-government is under way in Republika Srpska and the Congress will follow-up the consequences of the new legislation very closely.

Support for concrete measures to strengthen democracy at the grassroots' level and to empower accountable and competent local elected representatives in all entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina is very high on the agenda of the Council of Europe. There is no democratic progress without progress at the level of local communities.  The fact that we from the Congress were the only international observers to assess yesterday's elections is a proof of our firm conviction to stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina, also in the future.

The detailed Congress Report and Recommendation in respect of these elections will be prepared over the next weeks and will be debated at the Plenary Session in March next year in Strasbourg.

I thank you for your attention!