At its 44th Plenary Session, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe today adopted a report following a mission carried out by a 15-member delegation to observe the Cantonal elections held on 2 October 2022 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the Election Day, nine teams involving nineteen Congress observers visited some 125 polling stations to observe the election procedures, from opening to counting.
“The elections were generally peaceful and well organised, and in line with the appropriate provisions in most polling stations visited”, highlighted the Rapporteur Stewart Dickson (United Kingdom, ILDG) and welcomed the numerous practical improvements implemented by the election administration to reduce the possibility of electoral fraud.
However, the Congress report identified some areas where there is still room for improvement, notably regarding the media, the equal participation of women in cantonal political life and the lack of transparency of and overview over campaign and party finance. On the Election Day, the Congress recommended reconsidering the set-up of polling stations, the appointment of polling station commissioners and taking additional measures to ensure the secrecy of vote.
In addition, the Congress report invited the authorities to improve the accessibility of polling stations, to review the procedure for assisted voting and to address the recurring issue of voters residing de facto abroad and still voting in cantonal elections.
Furthermore, the Rapporteur reiterated, yet again, the Congress recommendation to organise cantonal elections separately from national polls to avoid regional issues being overshadowed by national concerns. “Trust, interest and willingness to engage in cantonal politics will only be restored by proposing clear political alternatives and programmes to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”, he concluded.
- CPR(2023)44-02
- Statement by Stewart Dickson
- Video of the debate
- Mediabox interview with Stewart Dickson
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44th Session
Agenda – Web file – Multimedia (Live webcasts, interviews, videos and photo)
