CEC of BiH silent on Schmidt's decision, Coalition 'Under the Magnifying Glass' satisfied with BiH Election Law amendments

(Patria) - The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina informs the public that until the entry into force of the Law on Amendments to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, considering the extensiveness of the provisions of the amendments, their significance and operational application, as well as the time of entry into force, and in one part, possible changes by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the deadline specified in the transitional and final provisions, it will not make comments or analyses regarding the aforementioned.

"The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina remains committed to performing its duties, which include, among other things, numerous activities related to preparations for the upcoming Local Elections in 2024, about which the public will be informed promptly and regularly," the CEC announced today.

On the other hand, the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections "Under the Magnifying Glass" has spoken out and believes that the aforementioned amendments to the BiH Election Law have finally created the conditions for introducing new technologies into the electoral process, which the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition has advocated for many years.

"The amendments include legal prerequisites for the introduction of electronic voter identification, scanners for ballot papers, and electronic processing and transmission of voting results from the polling station level. Also, the amendments include the reform of polling station committees by introducing non-partisan presidents and deputy presidents of polling station committees and limiting membership in polling station committees only to parliamentary political entities.

In this way, 4 out of 5 priority recommendations of the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition for better elections in BiH are directly implemented," the Coalition stated.

In addition to the above, the amendments introduce a number of other improvements in accordance with the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR, the Venice Commission, GRECO, and non-partisan election observers, such as: public disclosure of the names of polling station committee members with their political affiliation; prohibition of premature campaigning; expansion of the ban on the abuse of public resources; public access to the voter list for all citizens-voters; allowing complaints about the electoral process for all citizens-voters; additional security mechanisms for postal voting; automatic recounting of votes in case of significant discrepancies at the polling station; incompatibility of functions through a mandate in abeyance; better training of election administration; equal gender representation in the composition of the CEC; additional security of election materials; greater accessibility of polling stations for persons with disabilities; public access to the register of complaints and appeals regarding the electoral process; obligation to open a separate account for campaign financing; expansion of the definition of hate speech and rules for the media; as well as increased sanctions for political entities and individuals found to have violated election rules or procedures.

"Of course, it would be best if, in a democratic society, representatives elected and paid by citizens, make decisions in the interest of citizens, but unfortunately, this has not happened in the case of elections in BiH. Therefore, this decision is primarily a result of the work of politicians in previous years," the Coalition stated.

The aforementioned amendments to the BiH Election Law prevent proven election theft and fraud, ensure that every vote is counted, prevent the addition or cancellation of votes, and contribute to the overall integrity of the electoral process in BiH in order to protect the true electoral will of the citizens.

"We thank each of the 150,000 citizens of BiH who signed the petition for the introduction of new technologies in elections or were directly involved in other activities of the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition in the past 10 years of work. And now - everyone to the polls!" the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition called out.