Year 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003- 2004

 

Year 2006

• AEOBiH member will participate in the 15th ACEEEO annual conference, which will be held in Jurmala (Republic of Latvia) from August 31 to September 2, 2006.
• AEOBiH members will observe parliamentarian elections in Hungary from April 7-12, 2006.

 

Year 2005

• Implementation of the "Money and Politics" project in cooperation with IFES is completed.
• Successful implementation of the project "Public Campaign and Training on the Law on Conflict of Interests in the BiH Government Institutions", which is implemented thanks to USAID's funding, is ongoing.
• Implementation of the project "Human Rights and Responsible Government in BiH" in cooperation with IFES Ltd is completed in June.
• AEOBiH Legal Council held its meeting on February 28, 2005.
• AEOBiH held its regular meeting of the Steering Board on March 23 and July 14.
• AEOBiH held the Sixth Annual Assembly on April 26, 2005 on Jahorina.
• Professional and Scientific Conference “Local Elections 2004-lessons learned“ was held at the hotel Bistrica, on Jahorina from April 26-28, 2005. The Conference was organized in cooperation with the Election Commission of BiH.
• The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH), has started implementation of the project “Enhancing good governance and the promotion and protection of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina” at the beginning of September 2005. The aim of this project is to enhance good governance and the promotion and protection of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This will be done by establishing effective, transparent and sustainable interaction and dialogue between citizens, civil society organizations and public authorities at the local level in three rural municipalities: Derventa, Stolac and Maglaj. Through its activities, the project aims to improve life conditions in nine local communities in three rural municipalities. This project will be implemented until September 2006, and it is funded by the European Commission.
• AEOBiH delegation, together with ECBiH members attended ACEEEO Annual conference, which was held in Hungary from 14-17 September, 2005.
• Succesful implementation continued of the "Money and Politics" project in cooperation with IFES, the "Public Campaign and Training on the Law on conflict of Interests in the BiH Government Institutions" project, which is implemented thanks to USAID's funding, and the "Human Rights and Responsible Government" in cooperation with IFES ltd.
• Professional and Scientific Conference“ Local Elections 2004-lessons learned“ was held at the hotel Bistrica, on Jahorina from April 26-28, 2005. The Conference was organized in cooperation with the Election Commission of BiH.
• AEOBiH representative, together with ECBiH member observed parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan which were held on November 6, 2005.

Year 2004

• AEOBiH representative participated in COGEL Conference, San Francisco, from December 6-9 together with the representative from the Election Commission of BiH.
• AEOBiH representative observed presidential elections in Ukraine from October 29-November 2, 2004 together with representative from the Election Commission of BiH.
• The AEOBiH Steering Board held its regular meetings on July 17, September 7 and November 17, 2004.
• In order to improve preparations for the municipal elections, the Association made a survey in cooperation with municipal election commissions of BiH in order to note possible problems expected at the next elections. Results of this survey were submitted to the Election Commission of BiH, and international organizations in BiH. These results are placed on AEOBiH home page.
• The AEOBiH Legal Council held its regular meeting on February 13, 2004 and significantly contributed to preparation of normative acts necessary for the project “Strengthening of the role of local communities in the local politics”.
• AEOBiH held its fifth annual assembly meeting on March 27, 2004. in the building of joint institutions in BiH.
• The AEOBiH Steering Board held its first meeting during the Fifth Annual Assembly in March.
• The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH), in cooperation with the IFES Ltd from London has started implementation of the project "Human Rights and Good Governance Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina” at the beginning of 2004. The aim of this project is to establish better communication between citizens and municipal structures with the special emphasis on protection of basic human rights through education and training on human rights regarding participatory processes in public life; as well as good governance, accountability and transparency in decision-making processes. This project is implemented in 16 municipalities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina: Banja Luka, Žepce, Novo Sarajevo, Kneževo, Bihac, Tomislavgrad, Mostar, Konjic, Orašje, Lopare, Zenica, Kiseljak, Tešanj, Doboj, Gracanica and Srpsko Novo Sarajevo.
• The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH), implements the project “Public Education and Professional Training on the Conflict of Interest Law” through the funds of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The main goal of this project is to promote the accountability of elected officials, executive officeholders, and advisors and their responsibility to serve the public over their own private interests. This project will be implemented through October 2005 during which more than 60 journalists and more than 1000 election officials will be educated.
• Three young representatives of the AEOBiH participated in the partnership project between ACEEEO and AEOBiH „First Time Voter” in Budapest from April 28 to May 4, 2004.

Year 2003

• Working Group finalized proposal of changes and amendments to the Election Law regarding funding of the elections. The proposal has been sent to the BiH Parliament, and the working group who is working on changes and amendments to the Election Law accepted AEOBiH proposal.
• The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH) has applied project proposal entitled “Strengthening of the Role of Local Communities in Local Politics” with the American Development Foundation (ADF), requesting $ 47 630. ADF approved implementation of this project from October 1, 2003 through the end of May 2004. This project will increase involvement of citizens in processes of making decisions, citizens will be more interested in the election process, and system of controlling work of municipal administration will be created so characteristics of this project will be transparency and accessibility.
• A three-member AEOBiH delegation observed elections in Graz from January 24-28, 2003. This was organized in cooperation with city Graz.
• Two cycles of Winter Camp were held in January 2003 in Bistričak. The final number of Winter Camp participants was 23 for the 3rd cycle and 20 for the 4th cycle, a total of 43 participants.
• Conflict Resolution Training was held from January 22-26, 2003 at the hotel «Senad od Bosne», Modrac, Lukavac. There were 18 participants who successfully completed the training.
• A meeting of all AEOBiH bodies was held on January 31, February 1 and 2, 2003 at the hotel “Saraj” in Sarajevo.
• Two AEOBiH Secretariat members attended the Fundraising Workshop from February 6-9, 2003 in Budapest together with other NGOs from 30 different countries.
• AEOBiH press conference was held on February 14, 2003 where we announced launching of the AEOBiH as an independent non-governmental organization that will become self-supporting through its own projects.
• Group for Strategic Planning, Sustainability Group and selected members of Information Committee and Media Group held a meeting on March 4, 2003 in the AEOBiH Secretariat premises.
• Legal Council and Steering Board meetings were held on April 18, 2003 at the hotel «Sunce» in Vogošca.
• The following activities have been implemented within the project “Initiating Legal Definition of Funding of the Elections and Work of Election Bodies in BiH” during March, April and May 2003:

  ›› Meeting held with partner Municipal Election Commissions of Novo Sarajevo, Srpsko Novo Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Stolac, and the Memorandum on Cooperation signed;
  ›› Two meetings held with the acting Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Election Commission of BiH and the President of the ECBiH in order to solicit support for the project;
  ›› Roundtable organized at the BiH level on April 25 in Sarajevo in order to solicit support from relevant BiH authorities and commissions;
  ›› Press conference organized in order to present the project in the media;
  ›› Working group for initiating changes and amendments to Article 1.2 of the Election Law of BiH established: Mirko Boškovic, Zvonko Mijan, Asim Ibrahimovic, Milan Zjajic, Nedžida Salihovic, Gordana Pecanac, and Aleksandar Radeta.
  ›› Regional roundtable organized in Sarajevo on May 19, 2003;
  ›› Regional roundtables held on May 30 in Stolac and June 9 in Banja Luka.

• Member of the AEOBiH and member of the Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Aleksandar Karišik, participated in the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission in the parliamentary elections in the republic of Armenia, which were held on May 25, 2003

• The Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH), in cooperation with the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) implements the project Money and Politics. The goal of this project is to design and establish a unique and transparent database at the Secretariat of ECBiH containing comprehensive information on funding of election parties. Thanks to this project, public of Bosnia and Herzegovina will have possibility to check data on funding of political parties. Implementation of the project has started in July 2003 and it will last through November 2004

• The AEOBiH Steering Board held its regular meeting on August 14, 2003

• The AEOBIH Legal Council held its regular meeting on August 22, 2003.
  
  

Year 2002

• The end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002 were marked by the office move of the AEOBiH Secretariat to larger premises in Sarajevo. The new address is Terezija 16.
  
• In January 2002, contacts with the Election Commission of BiH were intensified. Secretariat staff presented AEOBiH activities in 2002 at the meeting of the Election Commission on January 28, 2002 and discussed future cooperation. One area of cooperation is through the work of the Legal Council on the drafting of sub-regulations of the Election Law. A round table on the implementation of Article 18.8 (3) of the Election Law, referring to voting right of illegal occupants, was organized jointly by the ECBiH and AEOBiH on February 5, 2002.
  
  The Memorandum of Cooperation signed on February 20, 2002 has defined cooperation between the AEOBiH and the Election Commission of BiH.
  
• New cycles of the Election Course in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Tuzla started in February. Eighty AEOBiH members have already completed course and it is our aim to have at least one MEC member from each municipality complete the program during 2002. We expect to organize eight cycles of the Election Course during 2002.
  
  The newest cycles will begin on April 26, 2002 in five cities (Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihać) in accordance with the schedule written under section "What's New"
  
• From February 24 -27, AEOBiH members participated the Annual Conference of the Association of Electoral Administrators of the United Kingdom.
  
• The second publication in our AEOBiH Technical Series is being prepared and will deal with the topic of the nationalization of the BiH election process. In March 2002, our Annual Conference Publication was prepared including presentations and conclusions from that event.
  
• In February 2002, education of the youth through the program of out-of-school activities has begun in selected elementary and secondary schools in Sarajevo, Ilijaš, Buna, Mostar, Široki Brijeg and Sanski Most. This education will last until the end of May. The aim of this program is to increase participation of the youth in the elections and to provide basic knowledge about elections and its importance.
  
• In order to implement Polling Station Committee Training successfully, a working group has begun developing a training concept. Preparation of manuals for the Polling Station Committee Training was also discussed. During implementation of this task, the working group will closely cooperate with the Election Commission of BiH.
  
• The AEOBiH established a working group comprising 5 AEOBiH members for evaluating the numerous project proposals submitted by AEOBiH members recently. The best projects aiming to improve the elections process will be implemented. AEOBiH has also been receiving many MEC action plans for the voters registration project. This project will also be implemented in coordination with the Secretariat of the Election Commission of BiH.
  
• A three-member delegation from AEOBiH observed Parliamentary Elections in Hungary from April 5-8, 2002.
  
• Conflict Resolution Training was held for 32 AEOBiH members in Banja Luka from April 3-7 and in Sarajevo from April 10-14, 2002.
  
• The AEOBiH voter registration and re-registration program, consisting of technical and financial support to Municipal Election Commissions in order to update voter registers, has been ongoing from April to June 2002 in 90 municipalities throughout BiH.
  
• Round tables in 16 regions regularly gather MEC members together to discuss issues and exchange experiences about ongoing preparations for the upcoming elections. OSCE election officers attend these round tables. Round tables were held in March, April, July and August. The first round table addressed the Election Law, the second round table dealt with voters' registration and re-registration issues, and the third round table dealt with the assignment of settlements to polling stations and implementation of Article 19.8 (3), which refers to the voting right of illegal occupants. The fourth round table addressed acreditation procedures, procedural instruction concerning electoral challenges and conclusions from the MEC Conference. The fifth round table included training of MECs on PSC training. The sixth training, held in September, addressed the distribution of mandates. AEOBiH trainers conducted this training, participated by MEC members and political parties' and NGOs' representatives.
  
• In cooperation with the Media Soroš Center, training seminars on media and presentation skills have been implemented for AEOBiH members. During this year, three basic seminars took place, while two advanced sessions were held in May and July 2002 for the most successful participants.
  
  
• A three-member AEOBiH delegation attended the annual conference of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT), held from June 17 to June 23, 2002 in Kansas City.
  
• The AEOBiH Conference for Municipal Election Commissions was held in Teslić on June 28 and 29, 2002 for representatives of all MECs from the entire territory of BiH, representatives of the Election Commission of BiH and international community.
  
• A five-member delegation attended the Annual Conference of the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials entitled “International Election Standards in the Legislation and Practical Activities of the Countries of Europe”, which was held on September 26-28, 2002 in
  Moscow.
  
• A six-member AOEBiH delegation observed presidential elections in Slovenia in period 7-12 November, 2002, in Ljubljana.
  
• The Fourth AEOBiH Annual Conference and Assembly meeting was held from 12-15 December 2002 at hotel Sunce in Neum. The main topics of the conference were the analysis of the General Elections in BiH held in October 2002, and the long-term sustainability of AEOBiH. About 200 domestic and 50 international guests attended the conference.

• Currently, the most important activity in regard to professional advancemend of the election officials is the Election Course. The Course will help our Members to increase their knowledge on international election standards, characteristics of different election systems, elections in BiH, election administration, computers. The Course is organized in 6 Modules and the participants will have the opportunity to conduct the research, create the activity plan of the Municipal Election Comissions and budger estimate for election related activities, and prepare the on-camera presentation on this topic so they can also practice public apperarances. So far, in March-April, we held the course for the future trainers and we currently have a selected group of election instructors who started the new training cycles for our Members. The first cycle was held in May-July in Tuzla, and starting in September the new cycle started for the Banja Luka region in Banja Luka parallel with cycle for Mostar and Sarajevo in Sarajevo. New cycles of the Election Course were planned to follow in February next year. Our goal is that at lest one person from each Municipal Election Commission in BiH completes this Course. It is assumed that 100 AEOBIH Members will sucessfully complete this course until the year 2002. AEOBIH thinks that this type of course should become a part of required education for all election officials, and should also be included in the by-laws as obligatory as well as one of the conditions for membership in the Municipal Election Commissions.
  
• The Conflict Resolution Training is being prepared in cooperation with the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution from Ottawa. Twelve Members of our Association participated in training sessions held by the Canadian Institurt and after the final advancement in Canada, AEOBIH was provided with group of trainers who are capable of carring out the same training sessions for Members of our Association. These individuals are currently completing the work with mentors and plan to prepare the first training sessions for the AEOBIH Members starting next year. This way, the election officials will work on the conflict analysis, gain knowledge on the effective and interest-based negotiation, analyse the barriers for reaching the aggrement and gain knowledge on mediation and basic models of negotiation. This will provide them with knowledge on involvement of the third neutral party. This type of training is very important for the Members of Election Commissions since it helps them to strenghten the skills of inter-communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution as well as improve communication with others involved in the election related activities.
  
• AEOBIH Members are preparing the election related Curriculum. We are making efforts to include the topic on elections in the education system. Therefore, during the second part of the year, we are also planning this activity through the pilot project under the title "School Curriculum". We are currently in the phase of finalizing the project proposal that would be carried out in Federation and RS simultaneously, and is followed by the contacts with competent Ministries of Education in both Entities in order to conduct the preparations for realization of the project.
  
• As the way of professional advancement we also have to mention the observation mission during the elections in other countries. So far, we organized departures of delegations of election officials to the following countries: Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Albania, Norway and Poland. Our delegation will go to observe elections in Bulgaria in late October.
  
  Approximately 70 Members of our Association had opportunity to get introducted with the election systems in other countries and discover usefull ideas that could be applied in BiH. All AEOBIH Members who are observing elections in other countries are obligated to, at the first AEOBIH Conference upon their return, submit details to their collegues from AEOBIH on the election observation program and describe the main characteristics of the election system in the host country as well as make comparisons with our election system, followed by declaration on whether they were able to completely understand all election procedures and specific featrures of the election system in the host country, and finally whether they have seen and learned something that could be applied in our country and how.
  
• The Voter Registration and Re-registration Project started in June 2001. The IFES/AEOBIH Secretariat professionally and financially assisted the Municipal Election Commissions in the project of registration and re-registration of the voters who voted by tendered ballots during the last elections. For realization of this project, 25 municipalities (that accepted realization) with the largest number of voters who voted by tendered ballots were selected ( Banja Luka, Bihac, Brcko District BiH, Gracanica, Gradacac, Gradiska, Ilidza, Kakanj, Kalesija, Laktasi, Lukavac, Maglaj, Mostar-Jugozapad, Mostar-Stari Grad, Novo Sarajevo, Sarajevo-Centar, Sarajevo-Novi grad, Srebrenik, Travnik, Tuzla, Visoko, Zenica, Zvinice, Doboj and Mostar-Zapad). Municipal Election Commissions have prepared the activity plans that were approved by IFES/AEOBIH Secretariat.
  The goal was that the Municipal Election Commissions prepare and carry out locally designed voter registration and re-registration campaign. The IFES/AEOBIH Secretariat evaluated that engagement of mobile registration teams is the only way conduct the voter registration at the quality level. All Municipal Election Commissions accepted this request and engaged mobile registration teams for locating people in the field according to the lists received by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This particular activity provided the best results since it did not require large efforts by the voters who needed to be registered or re-registered. The other activities conducted by Municipal Election Commissions were:
  
  • Press Conference organized.
  • Appearances in the local media.
  • Meetings with representatives of the local political parties.
  • Design, printing and local distribution of the motivational posters.
  • Issuing of information in the local media.
  • The final result of this project was registration and re-registration of
  10 000 voters (the results are still being collected).
  
• In regard to the advisory activities of the AEOBIH, they became more significant since the AEOBIH Presidency constituted the Legal Council as the working body consisted of 12 Members, distinguished lawers from the Association, working om the analysis of election process. The Legal Council is considering the possibility for implementing the international election standards into the election system in BiH, establishing contacts with representatives of the election bodies in BiH for the purpose of involving AEOBIH in the processof creating the by-laws and administrative procedures for implementation of the Election Law. The goal of these activities is ensuring an adequate role of AEOBIH and its formal involvement in particular activities and processes of election administration. Legal Council has already submitted an opinion on the draft Election Law to the BiH Parliament, OHR and OSCE. Some of the objections submitted, that are more of a technical nature, were accepted in the text of the Election Law. This group of people may provide a significant contribution in design of the election system in BiH. They are currently working on the review of certain Articles of the Election Law, in order to prepare and offer the material for the by-laws that are expected to follow.
  
• AEOBIH delegation will participate at the Annual Conference of the Association of Election Officials of Central and Eastern Europe (ACEEEO) that will be held in October 2001 in Brijuni, Croatia.
  
• In total 44 AEOBIH Members (mainly Members of the AEOBIH bodies) attended the Media Skills Course organized by the Media Center in Sarajevo. Fourteen the most sucessful atendtees of the course shall prepare the AEOBIH media strategy this weekend. In late September 2001, these 14 AEOBIH Members will attend the advanced course on media skills. The topucs covered by this course are: role of media in civic society, elements of public information, organization of press conferences, preparation and conduct of interviews, elements and differences in the news and comments.
  
• Regional Assemblies of the Branches were held on 4-7 September in Bjelasnica, Banja Luka, Tuzla and Citluk. These Assemblies included election of the members to the Regional Committees (former Branch Presidences), Committees and candidates for the AEOBIH Steering Board (former Presidency).
  
• The Third AEOBiH Annual Conference and Assembly was held on December 7-9 in Sarajevo at the Holiday Inn hotel. An election equipment exhibition was held for the first time at the conference, where two local companies and one international company were represented. The conference was entitled "Nationalization and Building Trust in the BiH Election Process". New compositions of AEOBiH bodies were also appointed.
  

Year 2000

• AEOBiH members were involved in Polling Station Committee Training in September, October and November 2000. More than 30.000 Polling Station Officials were trained for the General election. The project was carried out in cooperation with OSCE Elections Department.  
  
• AEOBIH/MEC to MEC Consultation Report - general outline of the responses from all the MECs involved in the October 2000 consultations programme. 100 MECs were involved in consultations covering issues from voter registration to security on election day.
  
• The AEOBIH Members from 51 municipalities carried out the voter information activities sponsored by IFES. Those activities were conducted in various forms depending on location and structure of the recipients. The rock concert was organized in order to educate younger voters, followed by guest appearances of the AEOBIH Members in the local media, presentations on the election process in high schools and settlements of displaced persons, posters with detailed locations of the polling stations, open hotlines for all information on the election process.
  
• IFES/AEOBIH organized two conferences during the year 2000. The first conference was held in May in Neum. This conference provided the members with opportunity to discuss the issues and problems that appeared during elections in April 2000. The conference gathered more than 150 persons including the AEOBIH Members, OSCE staff, guests and journalists. The conference report was published in local as well as English language and is still available at the Secretariat.
  The second, and more important, conference was the Second Annual Conference and AEOBIH Assembly session held on 7-10 December 2000 in Teslic. The main topics of this conference were transfer of authority in the field of elections to the local bodies and future of AEOBIH. Detailed report on the Teslic Conference can be found in AEOBIH newspaper "Elections" issue number 5.
  
• AEOBiH members participated in election observation trips to Poland, Lithuania and Slovenia in October 2000.
  
• The AEOBIH delegations activelly participated at the ACEEEO Conference (Association of Election Officials of Central and Eastern Europe) in Warshaw, IACREOT (International Association of Officials, Registrars, Election Officials and Treasurers) in USA and IDEA conference (International Institute for Demoracy and Election Assistance) in Stockholm. The topics of these conferences were elections from the international perspective and use of techology in administraton of elections. Two delegations of AEOBIH participated in Annual AEA Conferences (Association of Election Administrators) in UK. This Conference provided the Members with opportunity to expand their knowledge on the Association from UK that gave significant support to our Association in the past.