Independent Bloc: We support ambassadors' views on introducing new technologies into the electoral process

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Independent Bloc welcomes the views presented in today's joint column on electoral reform by EU Ambassador to BiH Johann Sattler, US Ambassador to BiH Eric Nelson, and OSCE Head of Mission in BiH Kathleen Kavalec.

We fully support the views expressed in this column and hope that all political entities and actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina will take them most seriously. Electoral system reform is a priority to ensure fair and just representation of citizens in representative bodies and to ensure the correct implementation of their will expressed in elections, without manipulation and distortion. As one of the parties most severely damaged in previous electoral cycles, our focus is on ensuring a credible electoral solution, and we have proposed appropriate solutions in this regard.

The introduction of new technologies can certainly contribute to the transparency and accuracy of counting and help avoid situations like those we had in the local elections in Mostar, which were the most monitored elections in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with new technologies, changing the way polling station committees are formed is key to preventing abuses and restoring the trust of BiH citizens in the electoral process.

“I welcome the efforts that the Central Election Commission is making to improve the electoral process under the current circumstances and hope that political decision-makers will do their part. Changes to electoral rules and fair elections are our fundamental determinants, and the Independent Bloc has insisted on this since its founding,” says the president of the Independent Bloc, Senad Šepić.