The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina has assessed that the General Elections on 1 October 2006 were held in a fair and democratic atmosphere. Problems that occurred during the elections have not affected the elections procedure significantly or the election results, and it can therefore be assumed that the final results will in fact reflect the will of electors. (03-OCT-06)

This article is based on the Helsinki Committee press release, which has republicated here by HRH / Mirsad Pandzic.

Helsinki Committee assess as positive the transfer to passive registration of voters, by which 2,775,207 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina were given active voting rights, which represents an increase of 440,000 citizens in comparison with the previous elections. However, a number of voters failed to vote due to long lines at some polling stations and due to changes of their polling stations, which made them give up voting. Insufficient training of polling station committee members was demonstrated, which caused delays and complications in the electoral process. This is one of the reasons for a relatively low turnout of voters, although the key reason was the character of the election campaign, in which the candidates and political parties failed to draw attention of the electorate. Civic activism, particularly around the GROZD movement, has been encouraging, which has created assumptions for a more responsible attitude of elected representatives towards voters and their concerns and priorities.

Lack of discipline
Some weaknesses, reflecting the lack of discipline of parties’ activists and leaders, were manifested during the elections, as well as their failure to respect some elementary postulates of fair elections. This primarily refers to violations of the election silence through display of posters, promotion of own candidates, attempts to affect decisions of voters on the day preceding the elections and on the very Election Day. According to observations of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights monitors, the SNSD (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats) took the lead in such actions.

Police
The presence of armed police officers was observed in the proximity of polling stations, which is a reflection of the lack of coordination between public order bodies and bodies in charge of the electoral process.

Observers
Despite the importance of work of election observers from non-governmental organizations, these were not allowed to carry out their duties at a certain number of polling stations. During the Election Day, this error was corrected.

Deadlines
The Helsinki Committee expects the legislative bodies to be constituted by the legally defined deadlines, and the other elected officials to take over their positions within deadlines set. Committee stress as particularly important the constitution of the executive bodies – for their immediate start of work on the necessary reforms and acceleration of processes of association of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the European Union.