Bosnia votes Sunday in election that could affect EU bid
Authorities are using electronic voter ID and ballot scanning for the first time as 3.4 million voters choose leaders in a polarized race.
- On Sunday, Bosnia and Herzegovina holds national elections with roughly 3.4 million voters choosing a new tripartite presidency and parliamentary representatives amid prolonged institutional crisis.
- Political scientist Mladen Bubonjic argues the electoral system rooted in the 1992-1995 Dayton Peace Agreement encourages elites to "manufacture a sense of threat and fear" rather than address voter concerns.
- While authorities introduced biometric voter identification and optical scanners to improve transparency, 94% of citizens view government corruption as widespread, and voters prioritize issues like corruption and slow European Union accession.
- Rival ethnic nationalist parties, including the Bosniak SDA and Serb SNSD, compete against multi-ethnic opposition coalitions, reflecting a broader geopolitical tug-of-war as Russia and the European Union vie for regional influence.
- Beyond the ballot, the country faces demographic decline after losing roughly 600,000 citizens in ten years, while implementation of 113 reforms required for European Union accession remains completely stalled.
121 Articles
121 Articles
Three presidents are to be elected and 75 parties are vying for influence in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the election on October 4 is also seen as a crucial choice – where increased ethnic nationalism and a rapprochement with the EU stand in opposition.
Bosnia votes as ethnic divisions and stalled EU bid dominate polls
Around 3.4 million voters in Bosnia are choosing the three members of the country’s multi-ethnic presidency, lawmakers for the national Parliament, and heads of institutions for the country’s two entities.
Los Angeles Times
Independent EspañolVoting centers opened on Sunday morning in Bosnia for a general election with the majority of the citizens of the multi-ethnic Balkan nation concerned with everyday problems, while some traditional politicians fueled tensions from the time of war that have kept the country divided since its brutal conflict of 1992-95.
Today, Bosnia's voters went to the polls to select members of the Troika and members of the National Parliament.
Bosnia has begun elections, the results of which could affect the country's bid to join the EU. Bosnians are electing a presidium, parliament and local authorities <p>amid inter-ethnic tensions. Elections are accompanied by failures of the new electronic system</p>.
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