IDDEEA is not responsible for updating voter list data; MUPs and Civil Registry Offices are

The BiH Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange (IDDEEA) is neither competent nor responsible for data processing and updating, but only for the technical administration of the Central Voter Register (CBS), i.e., for maintaining records, servers, and the data transmission network, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The authorities responsible for data processing and accuracy are the internal affairs bodies (MUPs) and civil registry offices, as the CBS is created based on data from the unique citizen number (JMB) records, residency and residence records of BiH citizens, and personal ID card records. The data in these records are submitted/entered by the competent MUPs.

In case of death, local civil registry offices submit this information to the competent MUP, and the competent MUP carries out the procedure and makes changes in the records it owns. IDDEEA is not the owner of these records, nor does it have the legal authority to make these changes.

The Central Election Commission of BiH (CEC) is aware of this process, and we have previously warned the MUPs, municipalities, and the CEC about the risks that arise in case of inadequate data processing.

There are precisely defined responsibilities between IDDEEA and the CEC regarding the method and content of data submission from the CBS. Data in the records, in accordance with the Law on IDDEEA, as well as the provisions of the Law on JMB, the Law on Residency and Residence of BiH Citizens, and the Law on Personal ID Cards of BiH Citizens, are submitted by the competent authority that maintains the records of residency and residence of BiH citizens, thereby creating an electronic copy of the data.

The competent or originating authority is the institution that processes the data and owns the data submitted to the records maintained by IDDEEA. Ministries of Internal Affairs – MUPs (in the Federation of BiH, cantonal; in Republika Srpska, the MUP of Republika Srpska; and in Brčko, the Public Registry of Brčko District) are responsible for assigning JMBs, registering and deregistering residency and residence, and issuing personal ID cards, and they are the competent authorities in this case.

IDDEEA is exclusively responsible for the technical maintenance and electronic archiving of data and information kept in the records defined by the Law on IDDEEA, as public property at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A snapshot of the CBS is therefore made based on the data entered into the records by the competent authorities after the procedure has been completed in accordance with legal regulations. Information on why a person who died in 2006 is in this record can only be provided by the competent authority where the person was registered, i.e., the civil registry office where the data for the said person was kept.