Fourth Annual Conference in Neum

Page 4

Based upon analysis by the ECBiH and the data from independent observers, the recent 2002 General Elections were implemented successfully. This is especially important given that these were the first elections since the Dayton Peace Agreement that were implemented by local BIH authorities, in accordance with BiH Election Law, adopted in late 2001. The elections, having in mind the above, were one of if not the most important events of the past year, which brought lot of attention by media and other local and international groups in BiH. Now that the process of allocation of mandates in legislative branch of government is almost complete, it can be concluded that the election administration successfully accomplished the given tasks and proved that the implementation of elections by local authorities did not weaken the standards established by the OSCE and Provisional Election Commission. It also showed that BiH citizens have developed confidence towards the election process and the implementing bodies.

To achieve these results in a ten-month period, it was necessary to implement a whole range of activities. The ECBiH created its Secretariat as an executive body of the ECBiH. The Secretariat consists of people who spent years in the OSCE election administration and who now have taken over the technical management of the process.

The transfer of responsibilities for the election process to the ECBiH and creation of the ECBiH Secretariat marked the beginning of communication with the MECs, the initiation of new members, and transition to direct communication between the ECBiH and MECs, unlike the previous situation when MECs communicated primarily with OSCE field offices. The OSCE assistance was still considerable, but this type of communication was reduced to a minimum. The ECBiH communicated with MECs mostly through the Coordinator in the ECBiH Secretariat, and with time significant progress was made in exchange of written materials between the ECBiH and MECs, especially having in mind that earlier communication patterns were relying heavily on OSCE logistics.

An important preliminary segment, the voter registration, was implemented successfully through a new electronic registration system and through the application of new voter registration procedures. Both of these processes were implemented effectively. The electronic voter registration allowed for prompt data exchange. The new registration procedures required somewhat longer transition process in voter registration centers, since the registration involved more types of documents than was the case with Provisional Election Commission rules. However, even in this segment, MECs ensured uninterrupted registration, primarily because of their extensive previous experience. In certain regions there were numerous examples of successful cooperation regarding the exchange of documents, which is crucial for voter registration. The examples of good cooperation between municipalities in FBIH and RS should be particularly emphasized.

The ECBiH implemented a range of activities in the information campaign, which was particularly obvious in electronic media. This campaign was designed to improve the registration process. In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding with the ECBiH, the AEOBIH provided significant support by organizing roundtables in order to encourage better communication between the ECBiH and MECs. The AEOBIH support was notably visible during the intensification of the voter registration process.

In February 2002, the ECBiH commenced the three month long registration process through mail, which was created in order to implement the campaign and inform potential voters abroad about the registration requirement. In this segment, the ECBiH had good cooperation with the BIH Department of Foreign Affairs and various associations of BIH citizens in the world.

After the registration deadline, June 20, 2002, it was certain that the goal was reached. In a relatively short time period, the Central Voter Registry was improved, a large number of deceased persons and persons who lost their voting rights were removed from the registry, and in spite of this, the total number of voters was higher than at the General Elections 2000.

Verification of political parties, coalitions, and independent candidates, as well as the verification of candidates’ lists, was completed within the deadlines established in the BIH Election Law. This means that more than 6000 political party candidates were checked in terms of compliance with criteria of the BIH Election Law. A number of political parties and candidates applied for elections, and during the verification process it was clear that not all of them fully understood articles from the BIH Election Law that regulate verification procedures. Therefore, assistance from the ECBiH Secretariat was crucial.

Right after the deadline for voter registration, the preparations for technical implementation of elections began. MECs had a significant role in these activities, primarily in the segment of determination of polling stations and the distribution of voters to certain polling stations. As a result, 4000 polling stations were formed, which was the foundation for creation of the Central Voter Registry excerpts. The fact that on the election day no problems were reported with regards to location of polling stations reveals the successful performance of MECs in this segment.

The ECBiH itself faced the issues of printing the ballots and distribution of election material, bearing in mind that these two segments were the most expensive projects in the earlier period when the OSCE provided significant logistic support. The ECBiH secured solutions for logistic support within the ECBiH itself, which, along with significantly reduced expenses, resulted in the delivery of all election materials to the MECs on time. The printing of ballots caused a lot of public attention, since this job was given to a foreign company. The ECBiH stood by the position that this job should be given to a BiH company, but the turnout to the tender was disappointing. The largest printing companies in BiH did not bid for the tender, and at the same time the belief that a quality job in this segment would be crucial for successful elections was getting stronger. The ECBiH did not deny that local companies had the capability to print the ballots on time. On the other hand, packaging of the ballots and an adequate control of packaging are essential factors and often are just taken for granted. There were forty different types of ballots, which differentiated voters in twenty-three categories, based on the municipality where ballots were issued as well as many polling stations for out-of-country voting. If ballots had been packed mistakenly, the voters would not have received appropriate ballots and would have been disenfranchised. More than ten million ballots were printed for the recent elections and the ECBiH was firm on the position that there was no room for imperfections, since that would mean disfranchising the voters, as in the above mentioned case. That is why the ECBiH decided to give this job to a company that had previous experience in printing ballots for elections. During the printing process, the ECBiH determined that one of the forty types of ballots did not have the candidates listed in the order that was decided upon in the drawing process. Since the packing of ballots was done in a highly professional manner, and in accordance with the ECBiH instructions, it was possible to replace these ballots both at the regular and at the out-of-country polling stations in only three days. Had these ballots not been replaced, certain segments would definitely suffer political consequences.

The appointment of Polling Station Commission members was the most sensitive and important task of MECs. The ECBiH believed that PSCs were fundamental for successful implementation of the elections, since they were in charge of the voting and counting process. The ECBiH decided to include political parties in this segment in order to allow diversity of political options at polling stations, which was supposed to create confidence in PSCs and prevent possible manipulations at polling stations. By doing so, past complaints about one-party PSCs were avoided. Additionally, political parties lost the opportunity to blame the MECs for poor election results due to bias in the appointments of PSC members. It should be noted here that the nomination of PSC members is still seen as a political issue and the work in PSCs is not perceived as a technical job. This means that citizens and political parties have yet to develop complete confidence in the PSC’s work, which will be a long-term task for election administration with the end goal being the understanding of the PSC’s work as a technical, not political, act.

Election day itself proved that all technical preparations were successful and the voter registries were more accurate than in previous elections. Certain problems did occur but not to the extent that would jeopardize the integrity of the election process. International observers, lead by ODIHR, commended the entire election administration, which is another proof of the professionalism of the implementing structures.

Unlike the previous years, the ECBiH for the first time had preliminary results of the elections only two days after votes had been cast, mostly thanks to information received from MECs. The fact that the counting of votes in many municipalities lasted until early morning hours indicates that these last elections were more complicated than those in the past seven years. Many political parties claimed that they would have preliminary results for the public before the ECBiH. However, it was clear that only the ECBiH’s results gave the real picture of the political scene after the elections. Simultaneously with the counting of absentee votes, mailed-in ballots, and tender ballots, the ECBiH was checking the accuracy of all counting forms from polling stations. After compiling the results from the Main Counting Center, the ECBiH announced the final election results. From the standpoint of the election administration, this marked the end of the technical implementation aspect and the beginning of the appeal period. During this period, the ECBiH examined a number of objections by political parties, but those objections were rejected as unfounded. Most of these appeals were addressed by the Appeals Court of BiH, which significantly slowed the confirmation of the final results. The ECBiH will consider the possibility to initiate amendments to the Election Law with regards to the processing of appeals, which should result in a shorter time between the announcement and confirmation of final results.

An important issue that has not been clarified in the past year is financing of the MECs. Even though the ECBiH funded all the important segments of the election process, it has been decided to initiate fundraising solutions for the MECs. Without a comprehensive plan for funding, the implementation of municipal elections will be in question, since those elections should be funded through municipal budgets. With regards to this idea the ECBiH decided to join with AEOBIH, which plans to implement public lobbying campaign that should result in the resolution of this problem.

In 2003 the EC BH is taking over the responsibility for implementation of two very important laws: The Law on Conflict of Interests and The Law on Political Party Funding. This will require creation of two additional departments in the ECBiH. However, the ECBiH in cooperation with MECs will continue to work on finding the solutions for all outstanding issues, in order to prepare the entire election administration for the implementation of the next municipal elections.