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AEOBiH LAUNCHES POLLING STATION COMMITTEE
TRAINING PROGRAM
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The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(AEOBiH) and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES)
have launched the polling station committee (PSC) training program
for the coming General Elections. A seminar for thirty-four trainers
from across Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will take place in Zenica
on August 21, will offer professional knowledge and skills to AEOBiH
members selected to lead the PSC training program. Upon completion
of this educational program, these trainers will train members of
the municipal election commissions (MEC) throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Together with these trainers, MEC members will directly train all
polling station committee members in their municipality who will
be responsible for the conduct of election activities at the polling
station level.
The polling station committee training, which will be implemented
throughout the month of September in preparation for the October
5 General Elections, is defined as the obligation of AEOBiH in the
Memorandum of Cooperation, which AEOBiH and IFES signed with the
Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of
2002.
The PSC training in all post-Dayton elections has previously been
conducted by trainers of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina,
with AEOBiH and IFES gaining experience through their inclusion
in the most recent training program for the November 2000 elections.
According to the BiH Election Law, MECs are now responsible for
training polling station committee members. In this period of transition,
AEOBiH's goal is to prepare MEC members to assume their new responsibilities,
not only for these elections, but for future election periods as
well.
In preparing for the polling station committee training program,
the AEOBiH drafted the PSC logbook and worked in close cooperation
with the ECBiH Secretariat to finalize the manual for the work of
the polling station committees. The manual was printed at a BiH
printing house, in the languages of the three constituent peoples
of BiH, and will be distributed to all PSC members in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. It is planned that the same PSC manual will also be
used for future elections in BiH. The PSC logbook has been forwarded
to the ECBiH for their review and inclusion in the official polling
station kits.
With support from IFES and the United States government through
the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Association
of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina provides technical
assistance and programs of professional development to election
officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that they may conduct elections
in a professional and impartial manner. By doing so, AEOBiH hopes
to assist in the process of building public confidence and trust
in the election process, especially in this year when the responsibility
for conducting elections is being handed over to the local authorities
for the first time since the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Association
of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Terezija 16, 71000 Sarajevo
Tel: 033/ 250 806, Fax: 033/ 250 801
Email: aleksandrab@aeobih.com.ba
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