Can technology restore trust in elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
When about 3.4 million citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina go to the polls on 4 October, they will elect a total of 518 officials at several levels of government, from the three-member Presidency to the ten cantonal assemblies. These are the first general elections since October 2022, and they are taking place at a time when the country is trying at the same time to move towards the European Union and is facing serious political tensions. 82 political entities are taking part in the elections, more than in 2022. The campaign lasts until 3 October at 7 a.m., when the election silence begins.
The complexity of the elections is a direct consequence of the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995, which ended the war, but created a system based on ethnic balance. The country consists of two entities, the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, as well as of the Brčko District, and the Federation is further divided into ten cantons. The three-member Presidency is made up of one representative each of the Bosniaks, the Croats and the Serbs, who take turns as chair every eight months. The European Court of Human Rights ruled as early as 2009 that this model discriminates against citizens who are not Bosniaks, Croats or Serbs, but the country has failed to implement the ruling for years.
The biggest novelty this time is technological. For the first time the Central Election Commission will use 6,000 devices for biometric identification of voters and as many scanners for ballot papers at about 5,000 polling stations, and the results will be transmitted electronically. A contract was signed for the equipment worth 74.5 million convertible marks, about 44 million dollars. The authorities claim that the system will prevent double voting, voting in someone else's name and the forging of signatures. The new equipment is being introduced after a pilot project led by the EU. However, not everyone is enthusiastic. Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, claims that the new technology actually is meant to enable manipulation by international representatives. Dodik himself cannot run, because the Court of BiH banned him from holding public office for six years.
Analysts agree that the campaign is marked by ethnic divisions, not concrete policies. The parties mobilise voters through emotions and conflicts, while there is almost no talk about the economy, education, health and the European path. Hate speech is banned in public spaces for campaigning. This is paradoxical, because the country has been a candidate for membership of the EU since December 2022, and in March 2024 the Union's leaders decided to open accession negotiations. For years Brussels has tied further progress to reforms in the judiciary and in the electoral process.
Technology by itself will not solve the deep problems of the country. If the elections pass without serious complaints, that will be a small but important step towards greater trust in institutions. If instead the new devices, together with political tensions, create new disputes, the country could enter yet another period of deadlock. With electronic transmission, the first results should arrive faster than before, but the real test will be whether the losers accept them.