Elections in BiH: More than 500 people will count votes arriving in envelopes around the clock

More than 500 engaged persons in the Main Counting Center of the Central Election Commission of BiH (CEC), located in Zetra, will count more than 32,000 envelopes with ballots over the next few days, which started arriving at the CEC after October 12, i.e., after the General Elections in BiH were held, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

These are envelopes with votes that arrived at polling stations across the country from voters abroad, votes collected by mobile teams from sick and elderly persons, votes from voters who voted in absentia, and votes cast using unconfirmed ballots.

The workers, who are mostly engaged students, work in three shifts, and everything is under strict and constant supervision of CEC members and the Federal Police Administration (FUP). In fact, it is impossible to enter or leave the basement of the Olympic Hall without permission from security. Because one of the most common frauds when it comes to elections occurs precisely with votes coming from abroad.

Irena Hadžiabdić, a member of the CEC, explains:

- The CEC received 146 envelopes from Diplomatic-Consular Representations, more than 10,000 votes came from mobile teams, and about 9,600 voters registered to vote in absentia. At least half of those who registered to vote in absentia will actually vote. There is also a large number of votes that arrived from the diaspora.

- When we talk about unconfirmed votes, these are votes from voters who registered to vote abroad, but on election day were in BiH and voted in our country – explains Hadžiabdić. Envelopes with unconfirmed ballots, she adds, must first undergo verification, meaning CEC members first check that the persons who voted in such a way did not vote both abroad and in BiH, and only after that is confirmed is their vote counted.

Unconfirmed ballots were also used by voters from the country who failed to register by the end of August 28 but did so subsequently. From the Brčko District alone, there were 1,032 such voters, writes NAP.

The seventh General Elections in BiH were marked not only by a dirty pre-election campaign but also by a large number of attempts at vote manipulation. Hadžiabdić explains that, during voter registration for the elections alone, they sent more than 600 reports to prosecutor's offices, because they noticed a large number of irregularities and attempts at abuse, and the largest number of these reports relate precisely to voter registrations coming from abroad.

She explains that the number of attempted voter frauds this year is far greater than in previous elections.

- More than 40 deceased persons were registered to vote on October 12, and all those registrations came from abroad - said Hadžiabdić.

A large number of political parties and candidates have already declared victory and are counting on positions in government, but analysts note that more than 32,000 votes awaited from Zetra can certainly affect the final outcome of the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes NAP.