HDZ and SNSD Intensify Pressure on CEC, Again Requesting Documentation on Mail-in Votes

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Central Election Commission has received a letter from the BiH Prosecutor's Office requesting lists of rejected applications for mail-in voting in the last local elections and explanations for the rejection of applications, confirmed for Patria from the CEC.

This concerns a case initiated based on a report by the Croatian National Parliament Association. The prosecutor handling the case is Vedrana Mijović. 

Earlier, SIPA questioned some CEC officials regarding these circumstances, and certain documentation related to CEC decisions on mail-in voting was also requested.

In May of this year, acting on the order of a prosecutor from the BiH Prosecutor's Office, an investigator from the Prosecutor's Office and investigators from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) reviewed documentation in the CEC's warehouse in Istočno Sarajevo. 

“Activities were carried out with prior notice, and within the scope of the case being handled by the Prosecutor's Office, based on a report from individuals from the Teslić area, concerning alleged irregularities in SIPA's conduct regarding mail-in voting in the local elections for the Teslić area,” the BiH Prosecutor's Office announced on May 18, stating that it would determine further actions after reviewing the documentation. ​

Particular attention is focused on Teslić, where HDZ BiH lost a mandate in the local assembly by 70 votes. This very HDZ mandate was crucial for Milorad Dodik's SNSD to lose its majority in the Teslić municipality assembly.

“The judiciary and international institutions must react to the scandalous decisions of SIPA and electoral theft. The official conclusion of the electoral process related to the recently held local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina has, unfortunately, in practice shown everything that we, as the umbrella organization of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been warning about for months,” stated the Croatian National Parliament of BiH in a press release dated December 6, 2020, which was also published by HDZ.

In its report against the CEC, HNS stated that the Central Election Commission, by annulling part of the mail-in votes, “committed manipulations in the municipalities of Gornji Vakuf, Srebrenik, Kalesija, and Teslić.”

Initially, 3,298 voters from the Teslić municipality were registered for mail-in voting, which is double the number registered for the 2018 General Elections. Compared to the 2016 Local Elections, the number had quadrupled. After an analysis, the Central Election Commission of BiH removed a significant portion of mail-in voters shortly before the November 2020 elections, as it was determined that they were registered at fictitious addresses and that identity theft of numerous residents of that municipality had occurred. Ultimately, out of the 3,298 initially registered mail-in voters in Teslić, 1,557 votes were recognized. SNSD (430) and HDZ BiH (342) had the most. Thanks to votes from the diaspora, HDZ won a total of 621 votes, which was insufficient for a mandate in the Teslić municipality assembly. As we have already stated, they were short by 70 votes. If the CEC had not annulled the fictitious mail-in votes, HDZ BiH would today have a parliamentary majority with SNSD in that city, Istraga.ba reported in April this year.

Since the current composition of the CEC was elected in March last year, HDZ and SNSD have been trying to bring down this institution, claiming that the Commission members were illegally elected, calling them illegitimate even though they were legitimately elected in the BiH Parliament.

And while the international community accepts the suggestions of the CEC, whose members do not participate in the Interdepartmental Working Group for Amendments to the Election Law due to the opposition of HDZ and SNSD, these parties have simultaneously intensified their pressure on this state institution.