CEC must start sanctioning official campaign and abuse of public resources

(Patria) - The coalition "Under the Lens" conducting a civil, non-partisan observation mission of the Local Elections in BiH points out that the CEC BiH narrowly interprets provisions of the Election Law of BiH related to premature election campaigning and abuse of public funds and resources, and that it either imposes no sanctions for violations of election rules or imposes minimal sanctions on political entities that are not deterrent in nature.

Out of 393 complaints submitted to the CEC, sanctions were imposed in only 59 cases, i.e., only every seventh complaint results in a penalty.

The minimum possible sanction prescribed by law for political entities is 3,000 BAM, and the average sanction imposed by the CEC in cases so far is 3,750 BAM. To date, there has been no sanction close to the maximum of 30,000 BAM for political entities and an additional 15,000 BAM for candidates. This is particularly problematic in the case of those political entities that are repeat offenders of election rules.

Namely, 10 political parties that continuously violate election rules account for two-thirds of all complaints and as much as 80% of imposed fines.

Within the observation mission of the coalition "Under the Lens," in the first three weeks of reporting by long-term observers, a total of 273 election irregularities were recorded. 102 cases relate to abuse of public funds and resources, 80 to premature election campaigning, 36 to omissions in the work of local election commissions, 21 cases to irregularities in the work of the media, 11 cases to pressure on voters, and 23 cases to other election irregularities.

The largest number of irregularities relates to the following political entities: SNSD (42), SDA (24), SDP (18), SDS (17), and HDZ BiH (12).

It is concerning that for this election cycle, the official campaign has gained full momentum, and the CEC currently does not sanction the official campaign. This is very dangerous because such practice by the CEC undermines the principle of equality of all participants in the election process and gives an advantage to political entities and candidates who enter the election race from a position of power.

Based on the findings, the coalition "Under the Lens" submitted 62 complaints to the CEC related to premature election campaigning, abuse of public funds and resources, and trading of polling station committee seats. Based on the complaints of the coalition "Under the Lens," the CEC imposed sanctions in 11 cases amounting to 41,800 BAM.
The coalition "Under the Lens" calls on the CEC to start sanctioning the official campaign and abuse of public funds and resources, and to impose maximum sanctions for repeat offenders of election rules so that violating election rules does not pay off for political entities.

From the coalition "Under the Lens," they also reminded that citizens can apply to become non-partisan observers on election day until August 31, 2024.