Cerić sends letter to CEC: Possible manipulation of ballot papers

The election staff of Dr. Mustafa Cerić, an independent candidate for the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, sent a letter to the Central Election Commission today, warning of possible manipulation of election materials, reports the BiH news agency Patria. 

"Based on the testimonies of observers, as well as numerous ambiguities in vote counting in previous elections, Dr. Cerić's Election Staff calls on the Central Election Commission to exercise particular caution, especially when verifying and recounting ballot papers. In this regard, it is recommended that no member of the polling station committee should have a pen or similar tool with which they could invalidate a ballot paper.

It is also recommended that the hands of all committee members be carefully inspected, as there are credible testimonies according to which, in previous elections, some committee members had graphite tips under their fingernails with which they would damage ballot papers and render them invalid. Dr. Cerić also informed the representatives of the OSCE Election Observation Mission – ODIHR about these testimonies during today's meeting.

Dr. Cerić answered numerous questions from ODIHR representatives about the political life and prospects of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and emphasized that his strategic plan is to remove obstacles on our country's path to NATO and the European Union.

"America considers us a European country, and in Europe they consider us Balkan. Europe should certainly bring its views closer to American ones and help us adopt European standards as soon as possible, instead of having a kind of superior attitude towards Bosnia and Herzegovina," believes Dr. Cerić.

He also emphasized the need to re-examine the state constitution, as the Dayton Peace Agreement brought a kind of structural discrimination inappropriate for the thousand-year tradition of our country, in which people have learned to live together regardless of religious or national differences, according to the statement from the Public Relations Office.