During the past election campaign for the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, political parties spent, according to the estimate of Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), at least 11.59 million marks on pre-election rallies, advertising on billboards, media, and Facebook. Compared to the data TI BiH published on September 29, this amount is about 2 million KM higher, as it now includes advertising costs and pre-election rallies in the last week of the election campaign.
According to the market value of advertising, the highest spenders were the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats – SNSD (over 2 million KM), the Party of Democratic Action – SDA (1.74 million KM), the Party of Democratic Progress – PDP (943 thousand KM), and the Social Democratic Party – SDP (840 thousand KM).
More than 51% of the total campaign costs, or 5.9 million, represents the market value of outdoor advertising, and TI BiH observers across BiH recorded about 3,550 billboard advertisements, which are published on the online map, while the value of other forms of outdoor advertising is difficult to estimate due to unavailability of data. Outdoor advertising costs were calculated based on publicly available prices for commercial billboard advertising, although some advertisers point out that political marketing is charged an additional 20%.
In addition to this, parties spent approximately 2.59 million KM or 22.4% of the total tracked costs on about 600 rallies monitored by observers, according to TI BiH’s rough estimate. This amount was calculated based on the market value of renting spaces where rallies were held, equipment rental, food, drinks, and in the last week of the campaign, numerous entertainment performers were engaged for the parties’ final rallies.
Party advertising costs in the media amount to about 2.52 million or 21.8%, and the estimate was made based on monitoring media content on 19 major TV stations and eight daily and weekly newspapers, which was conducted for TI BiH by a media monitoring agency. Additionally, the value of political advertising by parties and candidates on Facebook, according to publicly available data, amounts to about 491 thousand KM or 4.2 percent of the total campaign costs recorded by TI BiH.
When all is added up, it is evident that this is one of the most expensive election campaigns, as parties spent about 11.59 million KM on three forms of advertising and pre-election rallies, which is more than all parties in BiH have ever reported in their financial reports according to CEC data. TI BiH has long been warning that parties do not realistically report campaign costs or the income they have at their disposal, which represents one of the systemic shortcomings of the Law on Political Party Financing.
Misuse of public resources in the campaign: TI BiH recorded over 1,137 pre-election works, 313 million KM distributed to citizens before the elections
During the monitoring of pre-election activities from July 1 to October 1, TI BiH observers recorded over 2,215 cases of misuse of public resources for the promotion of parties and candidates. The most common trend, as in previous years, was the increase in public spending before the elections, and TI BiH observers recorded 1,137 cases of intensified public works before the elections, which are published on the online map.
The value of works completed and opened before the elections amounts to about 284 million KM. Also, the value of works that began before the elections amounts to over 1.2 billion and largely relates to two highway sections whose start was ceremoniously marked in the pre-election period.
In addition to public works, 364 cases of one-time assistance to citizens before the elections were recorded, and numerous parties and candidates built their own promotion on these grants, thereby indirectly buying pre-election support with public funds. The value of these one-time grants from different levels of government amounts to as much as 313 million KM, and TI BiH has published a database of all recorded grants on the online map.
Unfortunately, in BiH, it is not forbidden to increase public spending before elections, and this has been a way of indirectly buying voter support for years.
In addition to monetary grants, TIBIH recorded 84 cases of providing special benefits to citizens before the elections in the observed period, most often involving free check-ups in public health institutions, free excursions organized by public institutions, and numerous public services were provided to citizens free of charge during this period, with these examples being used for party promotion or presented as a donation from a party or candidate. Also, the trend of misusing events financed and organized by public institutions, establishments, and companies for the promotion of parties and candidates continued, and TI BiH observers monitored over 543 public events, of which 76% were attended by candidates for the General Elections.
TI BiH submitted reports for over a hundred potential irregularities and abuses
The amendments to the Election Law imposed by the High Representative introduced penalties for only one part of the misuse of public resources, and the key problem of increasing public spending before elections remains unregulated and ubiquitous.
The Central Election Commission most often penalized candidates who misused public events or public office for party promotion, and TI BiH reported 19 cases of misuse of public resources to the CEC under these provisions. So far, two monetary sanctions have been imposed: on the Mayor of Zenica, Fuad Kasumović, who misused a public event of opening a bus line for campaigning, and on the SNSD candidate, Dražen Vrhovac, who used his position as director of IRB RS for campaigning. In both cases, sanctions of 3,000 KM for parties and 5,000 for candidates were imposed.
In addition to 19 reports of misuse of public resources, TI BiH also submitted reports on other grounds, most of which relate to premature campaigning and violation of election silence. Furthermore, reports were made on trading places in polling station committees, irregularities in voter lists, prohibited postering, hate speech, violation of voting secrecy, improper vote counting, etc.
Although decisions have not yet been made on all reports submitted to the competent bodies, the CEC has so far imposed fines amounting to 62,100 KM based on TI BiH’s reports on various grounds, unauthorized posters have been removed from several locations, and two reports have been forwarded to the competent prosecutor’s offices.
