Referendum Commission Adopts Ballot Paper Design

The Referendum Commission today adopted the design of the ballot paper for the announced referendum on the Day of RS, which is scheduled to be held on September 25, 2016, just seven days before the local elections on October 2, the Patria News Agency reports.

The ballot will ask the question: "Do you support the marking and celebration of January 9 as the Day of Republika Srpska?"

The offered answers are: Yes and No.

Although the Constitutional Court of BiH declared January 9 as the Day of RS unconstitutional, this did not prevent the authorities in the smaller BiH entity from calling a referendum. The reaction from the OHR was absent, while the US Ambassador Maureen Cormack clearly stated that "it is not in the interest of the citizens of RS for their leaders to continue activities around this referendum, nor others that aim to violate the Dayton Peace Agreement or the constitutional order and therefore pose a threat to security, stability, and prosperity in BiH."