Under the Magnifying Glass: Petition for Fair and Honest Elections in 790 Cities

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections "Under the Magnifying Glass" today marked the start of a citizen petition campaign in Sarajevo with a press conference to prevent election fraud and theft by introducing electronic voter identification and ballot scanning machines. The campaign will last until December 22.

As stated, more than 60 civil society organizations from across Bosnia and Herzegovina will take to the streets in more than 70 cities and municipalities to gain citizens' support for the introduction of new technologies into the electoral process.

Starting today, it will be possible to sign this citizen petition online through the "Under the Magnifying Glass" coalition's website, as well as at street stands.

Project Manager of the "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition, Dario Jovanović, said that this coalition has been advocating for the improvement of the electoral process through its activities for seven years.

He noted that in the previous period, they proposed a number of recommendations to improve the electoral process in BiH, some of which were accepted and implemented into electoral legislation.

However, he emphasized that for free and fair elections in BiH, much more effort is needed to talk about successful electoral reform.

According to him, one of the recommendations they believe would significantly improve the electoral process if implemented is the prevention of election theft and fraud on election day by introducing electronic voter identification and ballot scanning machines.

- Understanding the scope of introducing new technologies into the electoral process and the complexity of this change, as well as the sluggishness in a proactive approach to improving the electoral process, we realized that it is necessary to directly involve BiH citizens at home and abroad in this campaign and show the competent institutions that citizens want changes in this regard - said Jovanović.

Therefore, they decided to launch a public campaign to improve the electoral process, which includes signing a citizen petition, a direct form of democracy through delivering citizens' demands to decision-makers.

Jovanović points out that the introduction of new technologies would restore citizens' trust in elections and contribute to increasing the transparency of the electoral process.

- Specifically, the introduction of ballot scanning machines would not significantly change the voting method to which voters are accustomed, but it would prevent election fraud, which is reflected in changing voting results by invalidating votes for political opponents, voting on behalf of those who did not vote, or adding personal votes. Additionally, it would enable better post-election analysis and so-called election forensics by the election administration, election observers, and all other participants in the electoral process - said Jovanović.

He notes that, depending on the technology used, election results could be available within a few hours or even a few minutes after polling stations close.

Jovanović believes that electronic voter identification would prevent abuses related to the identity of voters who come to vote, such as voting in someone else's name, voting multiple times consecutively, and abuse of voting after polling stations close, and it would also be possible to monitor voter turnout in real-time.

He stated that out of 110 democratic countries worldwide, more than 50 have a biometric voter identification system, and more than 40 have some form of new technologies that assist in voting.

Jovanović states that new technologies are particularly important in countries with a low level of public trust in elections, as they prevent election fraud on election day and restore public confidence in the electoral process.

The "Under the Magnifying Glass" Coalition reminds that all power lies in the hands of the citizens of this country, and that positive changes are possible, but only with their active participation.