What awaits the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even more than forty days were not enough for the CEC commission to choose a supplier who should deliver equipment for scanning ballots and biometric identification of voters.
CEC hesitates
Tender documentation was submitted by four bidders. If the choice falls on the most favorable offer, the procurement will cost less than 60 million KM. If, on the other hand, the decision goes in the other direction, and the most expensive option is chosen, the figure jumps to 104 million marks.
CEC President Jovan Kalaba says that it is late, but there is hope. He adds that, whoever they choose, complaints will follow.
– We hope to have a selected bidder this week. We are already late, but we hope to arrive. Such are the procedures, and whoever we choose, there will be appeals. We have to wait for those complaints to be resolved, Kalaba said.
Due to the lack of time and volume of work, there are already doubts about the possibility of introducing election technologies for October, says Kešo
Bosnia and Herzegovina does not yet have a law that would enable the introduction of new electoral technologies. If the law is not amended, this could mean that, in the event of a discrepancy between the manual and electronic counting of votes in elections, the result of the manual counting will be taken into account, as this is prescribed by the current Election Law. Biometric scanners for voter identification could also be obtained for nothing, as their use is not currently provided for by law. The election law of BiH also prescribes the appearance of the ballot, which is too large for any scanner.
Is it illusory to talk about new election technologies in October if the amendments to the law have not yet been adopted, and the CEC of BiH does not seem to be in a hurry either?
– Due to the shortness of the remaining time and the huge volume of work ahead, there are already doubts about the possibility of introducing electoral technologies in October this year. Amendments to the Election Law that I and my colleagues from the SDA Club submitted to the procedure are now blocked in the House of Peoples and their fate is uncertain. We will see if it will be a hindrance, because there are also opinions that election technologies can be applied, even if our Proposal to amend the Election Law is not adopted. For us, that would also be acceptable, said Safet Kešo, a member of the SDA in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina Liberation.
Blockages and obstructions
It is clear, adds Kešo, that during the introduction of new election technologies in the 2026 elections, blockages and obstructions are created from the very beginning – from political, financial, through organizational and institutional ones, all the way to tender ones that can slow down or even completely block the procurement of scanners and other IT equipment.
– The information that reached me speaks of the unrealistically low prices of the first-ranked supplier of equipment (dumping prices) and the unrealistically short deadline for the delivery of that equipment. This raises doubts about the final outcome and success of the public procurement procedure. What will happen, for example, if the bidder does not deliver the equipment within the promised period of 90 days?! It is a very short deadline. In that case, will the possibility of introducing new electoral technologies in the 2026 elections disappear, in whose interest is it and who will be responsible for it, asks Kešo.
