Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec, said today that reports of electoral fraud must be fully investigated and, when warranted, prosecuted.
At the opening of the two-day conference "Response of the Criminal Law Sector on Threats to the Correctness and Integrity of Elections", Kavalec pointed out that electoral fraud cases could be processed more efficiently if cooperation between the judiciary, police and the Central Election Commission (CEC) was improved.
As long-term problems of elections in BiH, she cited discriminatory restrictions based on nationality or residential address, which are an obstacle to candidacy, unequal voting values, the work of polling stations, campaign finance regulations, accuracy of central voters’ register, inadequate appeals and investigations conducted by the CEC and prosecutors' offices, high percentage of invalid ballots, lack of protection of voting secrecy and biased media coverage, including public services.
President of the Central Election Commission of BiH, Suad Arnautović, said that every part of the election process in BiH carries certain illegal actions, starting with the registration of parties and the submission of signatures of support, including a significant number of deceased persons.
He stressed that such actions culminate on election day in the work of committees that oversee polling stations and especially after the closing of polling stations.
Acting Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH Milanko Kajganić underlined that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH will, as never before, be fully involved in all activities aimed at protecting the integrity of the election process, together with police agencies in BiH.
The two-day conference brought together experts from judicial institutions, police agencies, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and representatives of the international community, who will discuss functional coordination between judicial institutions, police agencies and election administration bodies, as well as investigations and prosecutions related to election fraud.