Bosnia’s Central Election Commission on Wednesday annulled the results of voting in 136 polling stations where it found “irregularities” in the elections that were supposed to decide the new president of Republika Srpska (RS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). As the AFP agency pointed out, according to the election commission, these irregularities could have been enough to influence the outcome of the election, writes TASR.
- The Central Election Commission canceled the results in 136 polling stations.
- Irregularities could affect the outcome of the election of the President of the Republic of Srpska.
- The candidates received very different percentages of the voters’ votes.
- The decision is not final, the parties can challenge it in court.
In the presidential elections in RS on November 23, the candidate supported by Milorad Dodik, Siniša Karan, won with 50.4 percent of the votes. His main challenger, Branko Blanuša, who had the support of the opposition, received the votes of 48.2 percent of voters.
Since both candidates were separated by less than 10,000 votes out of approximately 450,000 cast, the opposition accused the ruling coalition in RS of fraud. She claimed that this could have been enough to swing the result in her favour.
They found several irregularities
Central Election Commission (CIK) reporter Mišo Krstović said on Wednesday that “numerous irregularities” were detected in early elections. According to him, the annulment of the results in some electoral districts was necessary “to protect the integrity of the electoral process”. The chairman of the CIK, Jovan Kalaba, added that the analysis of voting in the electoral districts revealed that these irregularities could have affected the outcome of the election.
The decision of the CIK is not final and the parties have two days to challenge it in court. However, if the court confirms it, the Central Election Commission will have to announce repeated elections in the affected constituencies.
Milorad Dodik, who was dismissed from the position of president of the Bosnian state department, condemned the decision of the CIK. He stated that “CIK is undermining confidence in the electoral system in Bosnia. They have chosen to mock and humiliate voters.” Blanuš’s Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) welcomed the decision, saying that it protects the “will of the citizens” expressed in the elections.
The court confirmed the appeal
Dodik was removed from the post of President of the RS for disrespecting the decisions of the UN High Representative for BiH, Christian Schmidt, who oversees the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement from 1995 and compliance with the legal framework in the country.
In August, the Court of Appeal rejected Dodik’s appeal and confirmed his removal from the mandate of the President of the RS and a six-year ban from holding a political office – despite this, he still leads the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). On October 18, the RS Parliament appointed Ana Trišičová-Babičová as temporary president. Since the war, Bosnia has been made up of the Republika Srpska and the Bosnian-Croatian Federation. These two semi-autonomous entities are linked by a central government.
