Salihović: CIK must take responsibility, results will be irregular

Following photos published by BiH media, a video has emerged showing that a larger number of ballots sent from the Central Election Commission of BiH arrived at the address of a BiH citizen in the diaspora, intended for a larger number of BiH citizens eligible to vote in the USA, writes Patria.

Almir Salihović, coordinator of the Coalition "Prvi mart" (First March) is shocked by the latest developments and warns that this could affect the legitimacy of the General Elections. He is particularly concerned because the Central Election Commission (CIK) is approaching this problem very superficially.

- From the first case reported to us about 10 days ago from the Netherlands and the USA, that they received packages with several dozen, or even up to a hundred ballots at their home addresses, we immediately asked the CIK to comment on this issue and to explain what is actually happening here. To this day, the CIK has not taken responsibility, persistently pushing it aside and not addressing these cases. A few days ago, reports came again from America, where our conscientious citizens reported that packages with ballots arrived at one address. They duly recorded it and made a video clip which they provided to us – says Salihović.

He adds that these are irrefutable proofs that intentional or unintentional errors are occurring, which can call into question the legitimacy of the elections.

- We ask the CIK, if we have proven three cases where citizens reported such situations, how many similar packages went to the addresses of people who destroyed those ballots and did not report them, or could have voted according to their own discretion. No one has proof or an indicator of how many such errors there were. We have specifically three, with the names and surnames of the persons – added Salihović.

The coordinator of the Coalition "Prvi mart" says they have every right to suspect that intentional abuses are occurring and that attempts are being made to nullify everything that the Coalition "Prvi mart" has done, which they have been doing for months, assisting in the field to register and vote.

- We have information that the registration of voters from the diaspora, who will vote by mail, has doubled, which can and will significantly change the political structure in BiH, especially in the RS, because finally the returnees with the joint list "Domovina" (Homeland) will have their legitimate representatives who will take care of their rights. I fear that this does not suit someone – added Salihović.

He also notes that it is ungrateful to address this problem to anyone, but the CIK must take responsibility for this oversight.

- We ask the CIK to take responsibility and not to allow anyone who has registered to vote by mail not to receive ballots. All measures should be taken, the deadline for delivering ballots to addresses should be extended, as well as the deadline for their return. If a small number of voters from the diaspora turn out, we will demand that the elections be annulled – stated Salihović.

You can watch the video report with the ballot packages here