Transparency International in BiH has warned the Central Election Commission that there are indications that at least eight individuals connected to SNSD have been appointed to head polling boards in Doboj. This represents a direct violation of the Election Law which clearly states that presidents of polling boards and their deputies must not be involved in any activities of political parties. This measure was supposed to ensure the independence of the electoral administration, but it has happened before that party members passed CEC competitions which subsequently removed them from these positions following reports by TI BiH and other organizations.
However, this time there is not enough time to verify the large number of names that were submitted to TI BiH less than two days before the elections. TI BiH therefore pointed out to the CEC the public announcements by Doboj SNSD in which “non-party individuals” appointed to head polling boards are mentioned as officials of the local committee of this party.
The decision on appointing presidents of polling boards for repeated elections at 136 polling stations was made on January 28, and TI BiH requested the submission of their names the very next day, taking into account the great public interest due to the massive electoral fraud on November 23 which led to the annulment of the elections. The CEC considered TI BiH’s request at two sessions yesterday on February 5, and since there was no consensus at the first one, another one was held at which it was decided by majority vote that the data would be provided after all.
The names of presidents and their deputies appointed by the CEC were submitted to TI BiH only on February 6 at 11:44, that is, 43 hours before the elections, so there is not enough time for any thorough verification. The names of other members were submitted during the day by municipal election commissions. It should be noted that a CEC member stated at the session that this issue was considered at the CEC collegium as early as February 3.
TI BiH reminds that the elections for the President of RS were annulled at 136 polling stations due to massive vote stuffing for voters who did not come to the polls, and according to information presented by one CEC member, over 50% of votes were stuffed at some locations. Therefore, it was important to ensure the independence of the electoral administration at the repeated elections because party control over polling boards and inflated voter lists leave enormous room for electoral fraud.
TI BiH calls on judicial institutions to investigate the evidence of electoral manipulations that the CEC has collected, because the will of citizens has been altered according to the same pattern in multiple electoral cycles, which has been proven by numerous court judgments.
