BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Report by Kurt Arne Sandvik

Transcription

1 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER 2004 Report by Kurt Arne Sandvik NORDEM Report 17/2004

2 Copyright: the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights/NORDEM and Kurt Arne Sandvik. NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, is a programme of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), and has as its main objective to actively promote international human rights. NORDEM is jointly administered by NCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. NORDEM works mainly in relation to multilateral institutions. The operative mandate of the programme is realised primarily through the recruitment and deployment of qualified Norwegian personnel to international assignments which promote democratisation and respect for human rights. The programme is responsible for the training of personnel before deployment, reporting on completed assignments, and plays a role in research related to areas of active involvement. The vast majority of assignments are channelled through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NORDEM Report is a series of reports documenting NORDEM activities and is published jointly by NORDEM and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Series editor: Siri Skåre Series consultants: Hege Mørk, Gry Kval, Beate Bull and Christian Boe Astrup The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers. ISSN: ISBN: NORDEM Report is available online at:

3 Preface The OSCE s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established an Election Observation Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina to observe the Municipal Elections scheduled for 2 October These elections were the first to be fully funded and organized by the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. Moreover, the elections were the first in which mayors were directly elected and the first under the new electoral regime in Mostar. These elections were also the first direct local elections in Brcko since the war, and Brcko authorities were the first to implement several new amendments that had been made to the election law. The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission was headed by Peter Eicher (USA) and consisted of 10 international election observers who were based in Sarajevo, 11 long-term observers (LTOs) who were deployed to 7 cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were 102 international short-term observers (STOs) from 28 participating states. There was a 6 member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe. In addition there were also 64 STO volunteers. In total this made 166 STOs who were divided into 83 teams. This figure falls short of the 220 international short term observers that were requested for by OSCE/ODIHR. On Election Day, observers paid 1,300 visits to about 1,100 polling stations out of approximately 4,000. The voter turnout was 46%. As part of the Norwegian contribution to ODIHR s Election Observation Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3 STOs were fielded by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and the Norwegian Refugee Council, through the NORDEM Stand-by force, at the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These were Gunnar Baustad, Ellen Samuelsen and Kurt Arne Sandvik. In addition, Elin Eikeland from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was part of the Norwegian team. All opinions expressed in the report are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights / NORDEM University of Oslo November 2004

4 Contents Preface Contents Map of Country(not in web edition) Introduction...3 Political background...3 The Legislative Framework...5 The Electoral Administration...6 Voter and Civic Education...7 Voter Registration...8 Candidate registration...8 The Election campaign...9 The Media Observation on the Polling Day Regional specific information: Name of City/Municipality: Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac and Domaljevac- Samac/Brcko Observation of opening Observation of polling Observation of closing and counting Name of City/ Municipality: Srebrenica Observation of opening Observation of polling Observation of closing and counting Observation of the opening Observation of the polling Observation of the closing and counting The review of Complaints Process Conclusions and recommendations Comments on the election observation mission Appendices OSCE/ODIHR s preliminary statement... 17

5 Map (not in web edition)

6 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Introduction On invitation from the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities, the OSCE/ODIHR established an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the preparations for and the actual conduct of the Municipal Elections scheduled for 2 October Mr. Peter Eicher (USA) was the appointed Head of Mission. The core team consisted of 10 members based in Sarajevo and 11 long-term observers (LTOs). These were deployed to 7 locations. There were 10 participating states. The OSCE/ODIHR requested the participating states to second 220 short-term observers (STOs) of which they received 102. There were four Norwegians seconded to the mission as STOs. Kurt Arne Sandvik was deployed to Kakanj, Gunnar Baustad to Bosansnki Brod, Bosansnki Samac and Domaljevac, Ellen Samuelsen to Srebrenica and Elin Eikeland to Brcko, Orasje and Pelg. There were more than 4000 polling station committees and 142 municipal councils in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from now referred to as BiH. In its preliminary findings, the EOM stated that these, for the first time, direct elections of mayors for all municipalities represent a significant step forward for direct democracy at the local level. The elections were the first under an electoral regime that unifies the City of Mostar; and the first held for Brcko District Assembly. These elections were also the first to be held after several new amendments to the Election Law. Despite the progress, however, these elections are in essence of transitional character. Under the unique constitutional context of BiH, the ultimate authority still rests with the international community. All in all, the EOM concluded that the Election Day was peaceful and proceeded in an orderly manner. The voter turnout was 46%. Observers assessed the voting process for an overwhelming number (93%) of the polling stations visited. The main problems noted were that voters were unable to find their names on voter registers, cases of group voting and unauthorized persons present in polling stations. Political background Bosnia and Herzegovina s declaration of sovereignty in October 1991, was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia in March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs supported by the neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro responded with armed resistance at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb held areas to form a greater Serbia. In March 1994, Bosnians and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosnian/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties initiated a

7 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER peace agreement that brought to a halt three years of inter-ethnic strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995). The Dayton Agreement retained BiH s international boundary and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government was charged with the conducting of foreign, diplomatic and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government comprised of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb led part: Republika Srpska (RS), named respectively the Federation and the RS governments. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. In , a NATO led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia to implement and monitor the military aspects of the agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization force (SFOR) whose mission is to deter hostilities. SFOR remains in place although troop levels have been reduced. For the 2 October 2004 Municipal Elections, 27,427 candidates from 70 political parties, 18 coalitions, 180 independent candidates and 6 lists of independent candidates were certified. According to gender requirements 9,554 of the 26,618 candidates for positions of municipality councillors were female. As there were no gender requirements with regard to mayoral elections, only 32 of the 809 candidates for mayor positions were female (4,1%). In total, 140 mayors were elected in 140 municipals (with mayors being indirectly elected in Brcko and Mostar), and 3,145 councillor positions were to be elected. Federation based political parties: SDA (Stranka Demokratiske Akcjike/Party for Democratic Action): This is the leading nationalist Bosniak party founded in 1990 by Alija Izetbegovik and Harris Silajdzik. It gained 22% of the nationwide vote for BiH Parliamentary Assembly in 2002, resulting in 10/42 seats (32/98 seats in the Federation Parliamentary Assembly, 6/83 seats in the RS National Assembly). The leader, Sulejman Tihic, is Bosniak member of the tri-partite BiH Presidency and current Chair of the Presidency. SDP (Socialdemokratska Partija/ Social Democratic Party): This is a multi ethnic party, with the majority of its members and leaders being Bosniaks. It was founded in 1998 as the successor to the BiH league of Communists. The party gained 10% of the nationwide vote for BiH Parliamentary Assembly 2002, resulting in 4/42 seats (15/98 seats in the Federation Parliamentary Assembly, 3/83 seats in the National Assembly). Its leader, Zlatko Lagumudzija, is former BiH Foreign Minister. SBiH (Stranka za Bosnu I Hercegivinu/Patry for BiH): This party was founded in 1996 by Harris Silajdzic, a former Prime Minister under Izetbegovic. The party draws most of its members from Bosniaks although it is open to other ethnic groups. It has its strong backing from urban areas such as Tuzla and Sarajevo. The party gained 11% of the nationwide vote for the BiH Parliamentary Assembly elections in 2002, resulting in 6/42 seats in the Federation Parliamentary Assembly and 4/83 seats in the RS National Assembly). Its leader, Safet Halilovic, is the Minister for Civil Affairs BiH.

8 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER HDZ-BiH (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica/Croatian Democratic Union) This party was founded before the 1990 elections as a branch of the Zagreb based HDZ. Its program is the protection of Croat interests. It remains the dominant Croat party in Croat majority areas. HDZ gained 10% of the nationwide vote for BiH Parliamentary Assembly 2002, resulting in 5/42 seats (16/98 seats in the Federation Parliamentary Assembly). The leader is Barisa Colak, the BiH Minister of Security. The main political parties based in RS: SDS ( Srpska demokratska Stranka/Serb Democratic Party): This the leading Serb nationalist party founded in 1990 by Radovan Karadzic, Momcilo Krajisnik and Aleska Buha. It is the dominant party in RS. It is traditionally an nationalist party opposed to the encroachment of BiH institutions and return of Minoritites, and has advocated for the return of the sovereignty of the RS. SDS gained 14% of the nationwide vote for BiH Assembly 2002, resulting in 5/52 seats (26/83 seats in RS National Assembly). Its leader is the Acting President Dragan Cavic, who is also the current RS President. SNSD ( Savez Nezavisnith Social Demokrata/Patry of Independent Social Democrats): This party is the leading opposition party. It was founded in 1992 as part of the internationally supported SLOGA coalition. It is a more western oriented party focusing on co-operation with other parties rather than with ethnic groups. SNSD gained 10% of the nationwide vote for BiH Parliamentary Assembly 2002, resulting in 3/42 seats (19/83 seats in the RS National Assembly). The leader, Milorad Dodik, is the former RS Prime Minister. PDP (Partija Demokratskog Progresa/Party of Democratic Progress): This is one of the ruling parties, together with SDS in RS. PDP gained 5% of the nationwide vote for the BiH Parliamentary assembly elections in 2002, resulting in 2/42 seats (9/82 seats in the RS National Assembly). Its leader is Mladen Ivanic, who is the BiH Foreign Minister. The Legislative Framework The election law was enacted in 2001, and provided the general framework for the elections. This and other State and entity laws relating to electoral matters provided the basis for a democratic election process. In addition there were separate laws, which were adopted in 2004 by RS and the BiH regarding the direct election of mayors. Important to note is that these were adopted through regular parliamentary procedures. The Brcko District Assembly adopted its own law on election for Brcko District. This law entails that each of the three Constituent Peoples must hold at least 3 seats in the district

9 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER assembly. Therefore there was no mayoral election for Brcko. A separate amendment to the Election Law of BiH set out the system for municipal elections in Mostar. Mostar held its elections under a special electoral regime imposed by the High Representative as part of the unification of the city. Chapter 19 of the Election Law was amended by the High Representative to ensure that there is a minimum of 4 councillors from each Constituent People and a minimum of 1 councillor from the group of Others. Furthermore it guaranteed that not one Constituent People will have a majority in the new council. The mayor would be indirectly elected in accordance with the Constitution of the Federation of BiH. As a result of this, the legal framework for the municipal elections was unusually complex, establishing an amalgam of different electoral systems. Mayors in RS were elected on a straight majority/plurality basis. In the BiH mayors were elected through a preferential system under which voters could rank the candidates in a preferential order according to their choice. Shortened preferential Majority System In this system, the voter makes his/her preference on the ballot by ranking the candidates in order of her/his choice. First choice candidate is marked with number 1. If a candidate receives more than 50% of all first preferences, then he/she becomes the mayor. In the case of no-one receiving more than half of the preferences, then only two candidates with the highest number of first preferences go to the second round of counting ( hence shortened). In this round the votes are transferred from the ballots of the eliminated candidates to the remaining two candidates. If a ballot contains preferences for both candidates then the vote is transferred to the candidate with the highest preference. At last the candidate who receives the higher number of preferences is elected mayor. Open Lists These were introduced in BiH in the 2000 municipal elections. This are proportional representation lists where voters have the opportunity to not only vote for individual political parties, coalitions, lists of independent candidates or independent candidates, but also for individuals within the lists. Open Lists are aimed at fostering a direct link between the voters and the candidates. It also offers the opportunity for the voter to get around parties hierarchies by indicating candidates of their choice. The Electoral Administration The EOM commended the Electoral Commission (EC) of BiH (ECBiH) for its effective work during the election period. Most of the political parties had a high level of confidence in ECBiH. Despite the high level of complexity of the voting system, most of the rules and regulations necessary to supplement the Election Law were adopted in good time. The EC showed a high level of openness and transparency in their meetings and almost all decisions were made by consensus. The electoral system for municipal councils/assemblies is based on proportional representation. The whole municipality is treated as a multi-member constituency

10 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER (except Mostar). Voters express their choice by using Open List ballots. Mandates were distributed according to the Saint Laguë method. Parties, coalitions, independent candidates and lists of independent candidates had to receive more than 3% of the total number of valid votes, in order to get seats. Funding of the elections was a matter of substantial concern. As these were the first elections to be fully funded by the BiH authorities, municipalities had to contribute to the expenses of the ECBiH (e.g printing ballots, the counting centre in Sarajevo, and other central costs). On the day before the Election Day the STO team in Srebrenica visited 13 out of 23 polling stations (PS). None of them were marked with posters informing voters that this would be a polling station the next day. Several PS were set up in private houses. The owners told that they had agreed to their houses being used as PS weeks before, but not heard from the MEC since. In one house, the owner denied that her house would be a PS, but this matter was then sorted out during the night. All 23 PS, with the exception of two, were staffed according to the regulations as the PS opened at At one PS we noted that the house owner, who had declared the day before that she had heard nothing from the MEC since she allowed them to use her house as a PS, was one of three members of the Polling Station Committee (PSC). In Luka, two members of the PSC had left the PS, and the opening was delayed until the deputies arrived. In Suceska the STO team observed that the PS had opened with only the president and two observers present. When talking to the MEC later in the morning, they denied that there were any irregularities. Similar observations were made by the STO teams in Kakanj, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac and Domalevac-Samac, where preparations were not made in time. As far as the STO`s could observe, there were no other major irregularities at the PS. The PS committees conducted their tasks according to the rules and regulations. Voter and Civic Education The Municipal Elections were held before the adoption of legislation on local self government in RS and the FBiH. Because of this, voters went to the polls without knowing the precise power of the offices they were electing. Although the election process itself was peaceful, there were problems with people not able to find the correct polling stations. This was due to the fact that the number of polling stations had increased since the last elections. The OSCE/ODIHR criticized the local election committees for not providing enough information to the voters regarding the new polling stations. As a result of this, voting time was extended so that those who were in the queues at closing time were allowed to vote.

11 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Voter Registration The voter registration closed on the 17 June The total number of registered voters fell significantly from 2002 to just over 2,3 million. The number of by-mail voters dropped even more significantly. There were efforts by the ECBiH and the local officials to update voter lists. An unduly complicated electoral system and failure by authorities to ensure timely funding caused a lot of problems for the Electoral Administration. Some voters were not able to find their names on the voters roll. There were staggering errors in several municipalities. A key example is Kakanj where more than 1000 registered voters did not appear on the voters lists. Although the ECBiH made arrangements to enable them to vote, there were some individuals wh, as a result of this error, were unable to run for office or serve on PSCs. A citizen of BiH aged (18) or older can exercise his or her right to vote based on his residency and registration into the Central Voters Register. Each person shall apply for registration in person. The Election commission of BiH shall keep and manage the Central Voters register for the entire territory of BiH. There were 3 form of voting allowed: 1) voting in person, 2) absentee voting (internally displaced person voting in their current residential municipality for candidates in their permanent municipality), and finally 3) by-mail voting (for Bosniak citizens currently living abroad). In one PS in Srebrenica as many as one third of voters were turned away because they were not on the voters list. All PS observed by the Norwegian team had turned some voters away. Among the PS observed in Srebrenica, one out of nine of the PS recorded the names and details of the persons who had been turned away. In Kakanj, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac and Domalevac-Samac all the observed PS had recorded the names and details of the potential voters who had been turned away because their names did not appear in voters register. In some of these PS the PSC members went to great lengths to direct the voters to the right PS (if any). In Srebrenica the team did not observe any PS members advising the voters to contact other polling stations. At on one of the STO team visits to the MEC office in Srebrenica, they met a group of furious persons who claimed that they had registered, but were not on the voters list. Candidate registration Chapter 4 of the Election Law provides regulations for the certification of candidates for the Municipal Elections. It sets out the requirements that a political party, coalition, independent candidate and list of independent candidates should satisfy in order to be certified. Articles 4.18, 4.21, and 4.23 set out the deadlines for the submission for candidature. The Election Law also required that candidate lists include at least one third women. Party

12 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER lists were in line with this provision: a total of 9,554 women, or 36%, were registered as candidates for the municipal councils and assemblies. The entity election laws providing for direct election of mayors appear to be in conflict with the Law on Gender Equity in BiH, adopted by the BiH Parliament in May In accordance with the Gender Law, there should be equal representation of gender in all government bodies at all levels. There were only 32 women candidates among the 809 candidates for mayor. The Election campaign The election campaign took place in a generally open and peaceful environment. Neither candidates nor political parties reported any serious impediments to their campaigns. There were few cases of political intimidation and obstructionism which were reported, and only a few instances of hate speech. A number of unfortunate incidents occurred which could have been election related, for example, a bomb was thrown into the compound of one of the mayoral candidates of Zvornik, and the business premises of the father of a candidate in Cazin municipality. In both cases there were a few damages but no injuries to any persons. In Banja Luka, a journalist, who works for a popular radio station owned by a mayoral candidate, was assaulted. The Bosniak President of the Brutanac (RS) Municipal Assembly was threatened with assault. Civil and political rights were generally respected by authorities at all levels. Displaced persons were free to return to their pre-war municipalities both to register and to vote. Freedom of assembly and expression was observed by the authorities. The campaign itself was rather quiet. Election posters were common but less so than in the previous elections. While most parties made genuine attempts to address local issues in their campaigns, national concerns such as unemployment and pensions tended to dominate over local issues. Voter interest amongst the youth appeared limited in the campaigns. Nationalism remained an underlying issue in the campaign. Ethnicity is still quite a major issue. There were instances of political parties seeking the votes of a specific ethnic group in their campaigns. At State level, many party leaders offered provocative comments or proposals that contributed to a generalized atmosphere of ethnic identification and, in some cases, antagonism. Some 25 NGOs registered a total of 433 domestic non-partisan observers for the municipal elections, less than 10% of the 2002 number. In contrast a number of political parties deployed a substantial number of poll-watchers.

13 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER The Media BiH has a free press and electronic media. There is a broad variety of print and electronic outlets which provided a wide range of political opinions. The media itself provided sufficient coverage about candidates and provided political platforms to enable voters to make informed choices. The principle of equal representation in the electronic media was generally respected. In compliance with regulations, candidates were offered the opportunity of free airtime in the two entity television broadcasters. Under the new amendment to the Election Law, political commercials in the electronic media were permitted for the first time. The Communication Regulatory Agency heard 15 complaints about media conduct. There were amendments in the Election Law prohibiting the publishing of opinion polls within the 72 hour silence period. Media organizations denounced pressure by some politicians and parties against the media. Observation on the Polling Day The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission found that the 2 October 2004 municipal elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) where administered in line with international standards, taking into account the country s unique post-war political arrangements. Election Day was peaceful and well-ordered. Voter turnout was 46 %. Observers assessed the voting process positively based on the 93% polling stations visited. The main problems noted were voters being unable to find their names on voters registers, group voting and unauthorized persons in polling stations. Police responded to a few isolated incidents on Election Day. Observers evaluated the vote count as weak or very weak in 20% of cases, although this reflected poor procedures rather than manipulation. Regional specific information: Name of City/Municipality: Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac and Domaljevac-Samac/Brcko The STO team was deployed to the district of Brcko in the north-eastern part of BiH. Twelve STO teams covered this area. The team covered three municipalities (Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac and Domaljevac-Samac). Together in these three municipalities there were about 46 polling stations.

14 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Before Election Day the team visited 14 PS to asses the voting facilities. Most of the PS had access for the disabled. In some PS campaign material was on display (outside). The STO team spoke to many inhabitants, but in only one of the PS there were election committee members present, preparing for the election. Almost all people that the team met expressed a desire to vote. However, it seemed that the younger inhabitants didn t turn out to vote to such an extent as the older inhabitants. In one of the municipalities (Samac), one of the candidates running for mayor was a person who was convicted by the International Tribunal in The Hague and who had served some years in prison for his involvement in ethnic cleansing in Samac. The team was asked to pay attention to, if his candidature caused any tensions. Everyone the team asked about this, said that they didn t care about him, and that the election would show the opinion of the people. Observation of opening At the first polling station that the team visited, everything was done in accordance with the legal framework. The PSC chairperson was very well prepared. They had received all the voting material. The other commission members also appeared ready for their tasks. The atmosphere at the opening of the PS was good. All the members were present, as they were at all the polling stations visited. Observation of polling In general, all the polling stations visited (11) were well equipped and well organised. No campaign material around the polling stations was seen. The presence of representatives of various political parties was balanced, and PSCs consisted of both new and old members. Neither the PSC members, nor the domestic observers approached the STOs with any complaints and the STO team was well received by all the PSCs. The team observed that some people had difficulties with understanding how to vote, but they were often helped by relatives. The team did not observe any serious problems concerning the registration of voters during Election Day. Some voters didn t find their names in the registration list but some PSCs even called around to other polling stations to help these voters. Sometimes they were followed to vote in the absentee polling station nearby. In some polling stations the PSC didn t call out the voter s name, when being registered. In every polling station there were numbers of domestic political observers, but no NGOs was seen. Observation of closing and counting The STO team observed the closing and counting at a polling station in Bosanski Brod, not far from the municipality office were the sealed ballot papers and protocols were delivered. The polling station was closed in accordance with the procedures. The chairman checked the ballot box seal in the presence of the commission members and observers.

15 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER The counting was done in a calm and efficient way (about 550 ballots), with no disagreements about the validity of ballots. The process was transparent. All authorised representatives were given hand-written copies of the protocol except the STO team. The STO team was offered a copy at the office of the municipality after. The chairmen also hang a copy at the front door of the building (polling station). The STO team accompanied the sealed ballot papers and the protocol to the municipality office at about 2 a.m. There, the STO team observed that the PSC had to rearrange the ballot papers and protocols. There were four different coloured plastic bags, and unfortunately the PSC had misunderstood. Name of City/ Municipality: Srebrenica The municipality of Srebrenica consists of Srebrenica town and surrounding villages and hamlets. After the war, the vast majority of the population is Serb, but there are small villages that are dominantly Bosniak. In one village, Suceska, a resettlement of the Bosniak population was taking place. The town of Srebrenica showed few signs of war damage, but there have been no investments, there is no visible industry, and the unemployment rate is high. The town looks worn down. The roads leading up to the hamlets and villages are in bad condition, the landscape is dominated by smaller and bigger hilltops which makes agriculture difficult. Although the resident population is mainly Serb, the political power is held by the Bosniaks, as many Bosniaks still vote by absentee votes. Observation of opening The STO observed the opening at the primary school of Donji Ptocari. The opening procedures were in accordance with the rules and regulations. The observers and the PSC members who were asked to give their comment, all agreed to this. Observation of polling Apart from the two PS mentioned above, the polling procedures were followed according to the book, with the exception that a few PS members called the voters names out loud during registration. Voters who needed guidance were informed on how to vote. Those who needed assistance would bring a friend or a family member, and the name would be entered in the register together with the voter s name. Observation of closing and counting The counting procedure was slow and lacked quality control. There were 404 votes for the municipality and the same number for mayor. Unused, spoiled, rejected and valid ballots were counted and packed according to the manual. On the table, the PSC marked space for each candidate/party, one of the members read the name aloud while another member at his/her side supervised the correct reading. Then the ballot was placed on the marked spot. When all the ballots were distributed, the counting began. During the count, one invalid ballot was discovered this was after the bag with invalid ballots had been sealed. After some peaceful

16 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER discussion they all decided this one vote did not alter the result and went on with the count. With this one exception, the aggregation and verification of the result were done in an orderly, but time-consuming manner. The president were at times too preoccupied with reading the manual and keeping trace on the sensitive material to maintain order in the room, which caused an hectic activity on mobile phones to inform outsiders about the preliminary results which again slowed down the process. Apart from this, the STO observed no violations of the regulations. None of the local political observers bothered to stay until the end of the counting process which ended at approximately

17 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Name of City/ Municipality: Kakanj The town of Kakanj is located approximately 50 km Northwest of Sarajevo. The surface of the municipality is 377 square km. Most of the villages are situated in the mountainous areas north of the town. Kakanj is easy accessible as it lies in the Bosna valley along the highway and the railroad that link Zenica with Sarajevo. During the recent war, Kakanj became one of the ARBiH strongholds. Most of the Bosnian Croat inhabitants were expelled in the beginning of 1993 whereas some heavy conflicts between ARBiH and HVO took place in mid The population of Kakanj municipality is approx There is a Roma population of approx. 290 families with 1900 family members in the municipality. 16 PS were observed by the STO team. Observation of the opening The STO team observed the opening at Dom Penzionera (Pensioner`s Club) Zgoscanska, Kakanj town. (There were two PS located in the same room, only one was observed by the team). All the opening procedures were followed, and the PS opened at 0700 hours sharp. All the PSC members were present, the PSC chairperson seemed well prepared and they had received all the voting material. Observers from the political parties SDA, SDP, SBiH, Stranka Penzionera and HDZ-BiH were also present. There were no observers from the NGO society. Observation of the polling In all polling stations voting took place in a calm, orderly and well-organised manner. There were no indications of fraud, and PSC members or party observers behaved in a correct manner. However, in a few polling stations family voting was observed. One of the cases involved a man voting together with a woman in the booth, but the practice didn t seem widespread. With reference to the Kakanj incident mentioned under the Voter Registration heading, 1,076 registration forms were not processed by end of the registration period resulting in the same number of potential voters not being found on the voters lists. This problem affected both Bosniaks and Croats. The affected persons were from settlements and villages up in the mountains north of Kakanj. In order to solve this problem more than half of the affected persons, were referred to the polling station in which they had voted in the last election. For the remaining number (426), new supplementary voting lists and a new polling station were created in the town centre of Kakanj. According to the MEC, all the affected persons were given written confirmation of the clearance to vote, in order to avoid misunderstanding. The HDZ signalled 2 days before Election Day that they would transport their voters by bus from the villages to the newly created PS in Kakanj. The observation team does not have any information of whether this happened or not. At the PS visited in the morning of Election Day, the team observed that only 5 persons had cast their ballots and none of these had received any transport assistance to come down from the village. According to the STO team observations in some of the afflicted villages, there were no reports of these voters turning up to vote at their local PS. In every PS, except two absentee stations in Kakanj town centre, there were several domestic political observers. On the other hand, the STO team didn t meet any NGO observers.

18 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Observation of the closing and counting The STO team observed the closing, counting and tabulation at the polling station Karaulsko Polje at Pogon Vrtliste, just outside Kakanj town. The STOs stayed there from 1830 until the counting of ballots was finished and all results had been entered into the protocol. The PS was closed at 1900 and the counting procedure started immediately. The proceedings of the closing were conducted in accordance with regulations, and the PSC chairperson checked the ballot box seal in the presence of the commission members and observers. Unused and spoiled ballots were counted and piled and recorded in the accounting form. The total number of voters who signed the voter register were counted and recorded in the accounting form. Several of the domestic political observers were allowed to sit down at the same table after the ballot box were emptied and counting was done - next to and within reach of the ballots. However, the counting itself was done in a calm and efficient way. No arguments were made about validity of ballots. One of the PSC members read the names and parties loud while another member controlled the correct reading. All the ballots were placed in different stacks and sorted by elections. The numbers of ballots for every election were recorded into the relevant counting form. At this stage however, the PSC chairperson started to get confused, reading the manual up and down. Two of the PSC members left the room for some minutes, leaving the chairperson discussing the practical issues with two of the political observers. After some discussions the process was back on track. Even though no fraud was suspected in this case, it constituted some serious breach of the regulations. Some of the confusion was related to the fact that there were four different coloured plastic bags holding all tendered ballots, valid ballots, invalid ballots and unused and spoiled ballots. No-one seemed to know what to put into which coloured bag. The bags were sealed and transported to the MEC office. The election results were freely available for recording, and the transparency of the process was adhered to. The STO team was on request given a hand written copy of the protocol. However, the results were not put up outside the PS. The review of Complaints Process The Norwegian STO team left BiH before the Review of the Complaint Process was completed. All the Norwegian observers noted complaints regarding the voters lists, in the majority of the polling stations where voters were turned away. In most cases it seemed that the voters were showing up at the wrong stations and were directed elsewhere. At the time of the teams departure, there was no information available on whether all the voter lists complaints had been dealt with sufficiently. However, there had been some official complaints already filed with the ECBiH or the Election Complaints and Appeals Council. A serious case in point was the decertification of an independent candidate two days before the elections and the decertification of a mayor candidate in Banja Luka immediately after the closing of the polls. In both cases it was claimed that the candidates incited hatred. On Election Day, a few cases were appealed to the State Court. The complexity of the filing of official complaints may have deterred more people from filing them. Certain political party activists expressed lack of faith in

19 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER the complaints procedures ability to rectify their grievances. The ODIHR EOM was initially refused access to the meetings of the ECAC, but was later admitted to observe its proceedings. Conclusions and recommendations In its preliminary statement, the EOM stated that the Municipal Elections in BiH were administered in line with international standards, taking into account the country s unique post-war arrangement. The voter turnout was lower (46%) compared to the 54% turnout in the 2002 election. The elections had the following accomplishments noted by the EOM which underlined that the successful conduct of the elections marked further progress towards the consolidation of democracy and rule of law under domestic control. Moreover, the EOM stated that there was a general calm and peaceful election campaign, with few reports of intimidations and respect for freedom of movement, association and expression. EOM also emphasized that in these elections there was a notable increase in cross-entity politicking in which a number of parties sought to appeal to voters of more than one ethnic group. The main pitfall in the electoral system was its complexity, especially the lengthy counting procedures that created problems for several PSCs which could easily result in reduced confidence in the results. The potential reduction of confidence in the results was most likely prevented by the composition of PSC, which comprised members selected from and with broad support from the political parties, together with the high turnout of domestic political observers. Political party representatives were observed in 98% of the visited PS. Only 5% observers came from non-governmental and civic society organisations in the election observation, which is a 90% decrease from the last elections. In contrast there was a high number of political party observers, which could indicate that elections have become more polarised, between those holding political positions, and the rest of the civil society. The voters lists are still flawed and/or are incomplete. The voters lists should be thoroughly revised; rather in the magnitude OSCE/ODIHR did it in On the issue of absentee voters, the system which allows one to vote in the municipality which they lived in before 1991, when they now have residence in another municipality, needs to be revised or abolished before the next municipal election. Most likely it is not sustainable in the long run, as those who actually live in the municipality concerned, cannot determine their own leadership. The present situation could lead to an even lower voter turnout. A case in point is the municipality of Srebrenica (refer to STOs Srebrenica observation report)

20 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER Comments on the election observation mission The briefing in Oslo was interesting, but could have concentrated more on the election regulations and procedures. The EOM was under competent and professional leadership, logistic issues were handled efficiently. The briefing given by the core team and the LTOs and the written material handed out was very useful. Appendices (not in web edition) OSCE/ODIHR s preliminary statement