Bosnia and Herzegovina should pursue efforts to re-open political cross-party negotiations on electoral law and constitutional reform to address longstanding discriminatory provisions and shortcomings, as well as reinforce the capacities of the election administration, the transparency of election dispute resolution mechanism and integrity of election day procedures.
These were the key recommendations adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, based on the findings of the report of the Congress mission to observe local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina held on 6 October 2024.
Presenting the report, Marcin Golaszewski (Poland, L, EPP/CCE) pointed out that the elections were calm and orderly, despite significant challenges. While stressing that political consensus to complete negotiations on much-needed electoral reforms remained lacking, the Rapporteur welcomed the 2024 amendments to the Electoral Code adopted by the High Representative which significantly improved election integrity on Election Day and in the pre-election period, and contributed to a less hostile campaign.
At the same time, the Central Election Commission’s limited resources and short implementation timeframes, including on several ambitious IT pilot projects, placed a significant burden on all levels of administration and left some important provisions partially or fully unfulfilled. The campaign was competitive but low-profile, with limited media coverage and persisting allegations of misuse of administrative resources.
The Congress also encouraged the authorities to improve the media coverage of the campaign, women and youth’s participation in local politics, transparency and oversight of campaign financing as well as to address the topic of voters residing de facto abroad voting in local elections.
Link: statement Carla Dejonghe (Belgium, ILDG) after the elections
Contact: Congress Communication Unit, tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 38 90
Observation of local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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