Author: Irena Hadziabdic
Background
The General Framework Agreement, known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, was signed in December 1995. It ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had started in 1992. This agreement established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a complex state, consisting of two entities — the Federation of BiH (F BiH) and Republika Srpska (RS). The Federation of BiH consists of ten cantons, and the Brčko District enjoys a special status as a unit of local self-government. In addition, the Office of the High Representative was established as the leading representative of the international community in BiH; it has significant powers.
Annex 4 of the Dayton Agreement, the constitution of BiH, recognizes Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs as ‘constitutive’ people, whereas the citizens of BiH who do not declare themselves in regard to their nationality are named others. Annex 3 provided the framework for the preparation, monitoring and administration of the first post-war elections for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE in BiH administered a total of six elections from 1996–2000, establishing the following institutions in the process: Provisional Election Commission (PEC), Election Appellate Sub-Commission (EASC) and Media Expert Commission (MEC), as well as OSCE field offices across BiH. Municipal Election Commissions were established at the level of the municipalities.
The PEC adopted rules and regulations that shaped the electoral process, from voter registration to the implementation of election results. The BiH Election Law was finally adopted in 2001. The BiH Central Election Commission is in charge of election administration. It is an independent body that reports to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
The Legislative Framework
Annex 3 and the PEC’s rules and regulations are the precursors of the election legislation as it is today. The BiH Election Law (BiH EL) was adopted in 2001. It represented a great success and was the result of efforts of the international community, negotiations among the political parties, and the patience of BiH citizens.
The BiH election system is defined by certain provisions of the BiH constitution and constitutions of the lower levels of government, as well as by the BiH Election Law and 13 additional laws at the state and entity levels.
Certain provisions of the canton constitutions and municipality statutes can also be considered part of the BiH election system. The most important acts regulating the election legislation are:
- Annex 3: Agreement on elections, provisions of the BiH constitution and amendments to the constitution;
- BiH constitution;
- RS constitution;
- Statute of the Brčko District of BiH, as part of the BiH election system;
- BiH Election Law, which has undergone 16 changes and addenda;
- The law on filling a vacant position of a member of the BiH presidency during the mandate;
- RS Election Law;
- The Law on Election, Termination and Replacement of the Municipal Mayor in BiH; and
- Election Law of Brčko District of BiH.
Institutional Structure
Immediately after the adoption of the BiH Election Law, the first BiH Election Commission, representing the top of the pyramid of election administration, was established in November 2001. A secretary general was appointed, and part of the OSCE’s staff, which had significant experience in election administration, comprised the core of the newly established secretariat.
The BiH Election Commission (now the BiH Central Election Commission, CEC) has seven members, some of whom were international until 2006. The next level of election administration are the Election Commissions and the Commission of the Brčko District of BiH, followed by the Municipal Election Commission. At the bottom of the pyramid are the polling station committees, which are appointed for every election upon the proposal of the political parties.
The composition of the Municipal Election Commission in BiH has to be multi-ethnic and reflect the national structure of the constituency for which it was formed, taking into account the last census from 1991 and equal gender representation.
EMB Responsibilities
The BiH CEC has significant and wide competences, and therefore represents a unique model. In addition to its electoral responsibilities, the BiH CEC is authorized to implement the Law on Conflict of Interests (at the state level, in FBiH and in the Brčko District of BiH) and the Law on Political Party Financing. In accordance with the Law on the Council of Ministers, the BiH CEC also assesses, based on the submitted information, whether the candidates for the chairman, ministers and deputy ministers in the BiH Council of Ministers meet the conditions to be appointed. According to the Law on Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, the BiH CEC checks the candidates for the director and deputy directors of the agency.
The BiH CEC’s most important election-related tasks are: adopting regulations for implementation of the Election Law; accountability for accuracy; update and total integrity of the central voter register; verification of the political subjects; verification of candidates’ lists; determining the content and form of the ballots; determining, verifying and publishing the election results at all levels; coordinating, monitoring and regulating the legality of the work of all election commissions and polling station committees; issuing certificates to persons who won the mandate; and maintaining statistics on elections and voters’ education and information.
Composition and Appointment
The BiH CEC has seven members. The commission is composed of two representatives of each constitutive people (Bosniak, Croat and Serb) and one representative of the others. The BiH CEC’s members are appointed by Parliament for a period of seven years, using a list of candidates drawn up by a special parliamentary commission upon completion of the public vacancy process. The BiH CEC’s members can be re-elected, and its presidency rotates among the members every 21 months. The entity commission has been established in the RS, but not in the Federation of BiH.
Municipal Election Commissions consist of three, five or seven members, and the number of members is determined according to the number of voters registered in the central voters’ register. These commissions are appointed or dismissed by the Municipal Council, subject to the approval of the BiH CEC, based on a vacancy advertisement.
The polling station committee consists of three or five members, and is appointed for every election upon the proposal of the political parties.
The BiH CEC secretariat has over 70 permanent employees, mostly civil servants, who provide logistical and administrative support.
EMB Financing
The BiH CEC’s funds are ensured in the budget of the BiH institutions and international obligations. The funds for the lower commissions are ensured in the budgets of the entities, cantons and municipalities.
Even though the BiH Election Law stipulates that the BiH CEC independently manages the funds for the exercise of its competences and administration of the elections within the approved budget, the administration of elections has been endangered several times because the funds for its administration were not ensured on time. Namely, the legislative deadline for ensuring the necessary funds for the elections 15 days following the announcement of the elections was not respected on several occasions, which endangered the organization of the elections (e.g. Travnik in August 2011 and Novi Grad Sarajevo in March 2012).
In addition to the funds provided in the budget, the CEC has worked on improving elections using donors’ funds (e.g. USAID, Council of Europe (COE), OSCE, International IDEA, certain embassies in Sarajevo). New electoral technologies have been introduced, such as electronic summary of the results, assessing the risk to the electoral process and building up an Integrated Election Information System (IEIS BiH). Over time, the efforts of the BiH CEC have resulted in the provision of funds from the budget of BiH institutions aimed at improving the electoral process.
The Accountability of the EMB
The annual report on implementation of the laws under competence of the BiH CEC is submitted to the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. This report contains concluding remarks and numerous recommendations for improving the elections and related laws. All previous annual reports and recommendations of the BiH CEC have been upheld in Parliament, and were the starting point of every debate on the next changes and addenda to the laws under competence of the BiH CEC.
The State Audit Office also regularly monitors the BiH CEC’s management activities. It has so far received a positive assessment every year for respecting tendering, procurement and disbursement procedures, which is rare in audits of BiH government institutions.
Electoral Justice Process
Protecting electoral rights is ensured by the Election Commissions and the Appellate Division of the BiH Court. A voter whose rights (as defined in the Election Law) have been violated can submit a complaint to the Election Commission within 48 hours following a violation. The Municipal Election Commission is a first-instance body for deciding on complaints regarding violations of the rules of conduct in the election campaign, except if these violations are under the competence of the BiH CEC as the first-instance body: preventing a journalist from completing his/her work, using language that could induce or influence a person to violence or hatred, false representation on behalf of a political subject, violation of the election silence, or use of domestic or international means of communications aimed at influencing the voters.
The work of the BiH CEC in relation to appeals and complaints can be assessed as very regular and legal. Of all the appeals filed in the BiH Court, as the second-instance body, 97 per cent of the decisions related to the 2010 general elections were confirmed.
The Professionalism of Electoral Officers
In accordance with the BiH Election Law, every year the BiH CEC adopts a plan and programme of education for election administration, elected and appointed officials, and political subjects. Planned training of the election administration is usually fully realized, even though certain segments are not always completely implemented due to lack of funding.
In election years, the regular training of members of the Municipal Election Commissions is conducted, as well as training of Municipal Election Commission members in all municipalities in which early elections for the municipal mayor are conducted.
A training programme of the BiH CEC’s secretariat staff is undertaken in order to maintain a high level of professionalism among civil servants and employees; the staff attends seminars organized by the Civil Service Agency of BiH.
Election officials’ professional development is supported by conferences and similar events conducted in cooperation with the non-governmental sector in BiH. The most important partner is the Association of Election Officials in BiH (AEOBiH). As the result of a joint project, a code of conduct for members of the polling station committees and their deputies was adopted in 2011. The work, challenges and perspectives of the election administration are also analysed at joint conferences after every election.
Media Relations
Publicity of the work and freedom of access to information is conducted using generally accepted formal means such as Internet, press conferences, statements and press releases. The BiH CEC has not had any complaints filed by the media regarding the issue of access to information. In accordance with the BiH Election Law, the BiH CEC adopted a rulebook on media representation of political subjects during the period from the announcement of elections until election day. The basic rule is fair and equal representation of political subjects. The electronic media’s respect of the rulebook is monitored by the Regulatory Communication Agency of BiH, and there have been no serious violations to date. The BiH Press Council monitors printed and online media, and mediates between readers and these media.
Relations with Other Institutions and Agencies
The BiH CEC has established numerous contacts aimed at sharing experiences with the delegations of other countries on the latest trends in the development of electoral systems. The BiH CEC has also established excellent cooperation with the non-governmental sector in BiH and Europe.
Significant parts of the BiH CEC’s activities are directed at establishing international cooperation as well as cooperation with domestic agencies and ministries that are responsible for maintaining the official records for the election process.
Sustainability
In order to build up its legally set competencies, the BiH CEC would need further support in terms of provision of funds and enhancement of human resource capacities.
New Technologies
Since 2001 the BiH CEC has laboured to improve its work and introduce new technologies. One of the most important steps in this regard was the transfer to passive voter registration in 2006 and the launch of the IEIS BiH. The BiH CEC has to continue the process of building the information structure and complete the third and the final phase of the IEIS BiH project, and ensure there are necessary funds for its maintenance in the budget of the BiH institutions.
Electoral Reform Management
The BiH CEC has the right to initiate appropriate recommendations to the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, and it does so through its work in the inter-sectoral parliamentary working groups for changes and addenda of the laws under its jurisdiction. It is therefore in the position to contribute to improving the electoral legislation, but Parliament makes the final decisions, thus everything depends on the will and agreement among the political parties.
Opportunities and Constraints
During its development, this institution has made significant improvement in several areas: professional development of its staff, education of the lower election commissions, improvement of education and informing the voters (with a focus on out-of-country voters and special categories such as first-time voters, women and special needs voters), timely preparation of by-laws, reform of the registration process and application of new technologies. It has therefore made a successful transition from an international to a domestic institution, and set an example for the whole region.
Nonetheless, some constraints hinder the work of the BiH CEC. As the election law does not regulate sanctions for the violation of deadlines related to the establishment of the government, the BiH CEC faces the situation that preparing for new elections overlaps with uncompleted obligations from the last election.
An issue that requires additional attention is the financing of elections where Municipal Election Commissions lack financial means. Therefore, it is necessary to define ways to ensure the funds are available in order to have smoothly conducted the elections.
Bibliography
BiH Central Election Commission, Report on Implementation of the Laws under Jurisdiction of the BiH CEC for 2004–2011, available at http://www.izbori.ba
General Framework Peace Agreement in BiH—the Dayton Peace Agreement, USAID
Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Law on Election, Termination, Recall and Replacement of Municipal Mayors in the Federation of BiH
Election Law of RS
Election Law on Brčko District of BiH
Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Institutions in Brčko District of BiH
Law on Council of Ministers BiH
Law on Political Party Financing
