N1BOS — broadcast
20260818 153000 UTC
524 transcript segments
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[00:00:00] "you see what is happening in the world and political, and every other
[00:00:03] scene, uh, actually we
[00:00:06] are a small
[00:00:10] problem for all the American problems they currently have on a global level,
[00:00:14] but, uh, of course, it's important for us
[00:00:17] to attract foreign capital, to get through
[00:00:20] these dynamics,
[00:00:23] uh, so to speak, that are on the political
[00:00:27] scene, uh, at a global level, a little before..." the beginning of our
[00:00:30] conversation, while browsing portals, the first highlighted news was this
[00:00:34] situation with BHRT, the pressure on judges
[00:00:37] who are, therefore, in that proceeding against Radio Television of Republika
[00:00:40] Srpska, how do you think this situation will be resolved,
[00:00:44] will BHRT manage to survive given
[00:00:47] this, well, we can say, considerable disinterest
[00:00:51] of institutions to solve their problem. Well, we are in the Commission for Transport
[00:00:54] Communications, I don't know how many times we have considered the situation at
[00:00:58] BHRT, then letters from the director, then the management and so on,
[00:01:01] there are internal and
[00:01:03] external problems and influences that we need to separate. Of course, this lawsuit
[00:01:07] with RTRS, that's a question of disrespecting the law
[00:01:11] on public RTV system
[00:01:13] and uh, we insisted and
[00:01:19] by the scanner, results actually requested and filed criminal charges against members of the managing
[00:01:22] board of the public RTV system who blocked and
[00:01:25] disputed the establishment of the system, because actually that
[00:01:29] managing board is the only one authorized to collect
[00:01:32] and distribute funds from RTV tax,
[00:01:35] mm, RTRS unilaterally abolished
[00:01:38] remittances of collected
[00:01:41] taxes in accordance with the principles that were
[00:01:45] established, i.e., percentages of collected funds,
[00:01:48] and that led to a very bad situation at
[00:01:51] BHRT, and BHRT here, uh, due to
[00:01:55] the unpaid amount
[00:01:58] to this European broadcasting network,
[00:02:02] it has come to a very difficult situation. The court process is
[00:02:05] actually the seizure of property in question, I am afraid
[00:02:09] there are some behind the scenes whose interest
[00:02:12] is to acquire that property as cheaply as possible,
[00:02:16] and we will see how that will last, but this process
[00:02:19] between RTRS and BHRT, I think these are things
[00:02:23] that are perfectly clear, the only question is whether the judges who will
[00:02:27] judge and rule on this will...
[00:02:30] actually trample on their profession and that judicial
[00:02:33] morality that should be brought
[00:02:37] to the fore, that's why
[00:02:39] BHRT, uh, I'm not exactly sure that it will very soon get out
[00:02:43] of trouble, but there was some light at the end of
[00:02:46] the tunnel, because the rulings, you know, started
[00:02:50] in favor of BHRT, what will happen next, we'll see, but
[00:02:53] I'm sure there are huge pressures behind the scenes on
[00:02:57] judges to actually rule in... use these resources.
[00:03:01] Commenting on this situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you criticize
[00:03:04] both sides, those who were previously in power, and those who are
[00:03:07] today, uh, do you see after those
[00:03:10] October elections some
[00:03:13] political options with whom you could sit at the same table
[00:03:16] and agree on some things that should improve,
[00:03:20] are there today forces that are sufficiently
[00:03:23] capable of being part of the government? First of all, uh,
[00:03:27] there will be a political reshuffling, there will be... a change
[00:03:30] in relations in the political sense at the level of Bosnia and
[00:03:34] Herzegovina, at the level, for example, of lower levels,
[00:03:37] due to the introduction of new technologies, it will no longer be
[00:03:41] possible to create so-called Bulgarian trains, I don't know, those
[00:03:44] organized thefts of the will
[00:03:47] of citizens, now it will be, therefore, counted
[00:03:50] on the spot, and the will
[00:03:53] of the citizens will be as it is, I am sure that there will be a complete
[00:03:57] change in relations, that is one thing, another thing...
[00:04:00] "Uh, I will sit with everyone who is ready to respect
[00:04:03] the constitution and laws of this country, of course, to protect
[00:04:07] the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those who are not, I would not
[00:04:11] sit with, no matter what is at stake. Therefore,
[00:04:15] here it is a question of either
[00:04:18] preserving the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina or politicking.
[00:04:21] If it's just about forming a council of ministers or, I don't know, the government
[00:04:24] of the federation or the government of RS to get ministerial positions, to use
[00:04:28] privileges, to continue with corruption, theft, and so on,
[00:04:32] far from me. But I will insist on that, of course,
[00:04:36] if I am in a position to decide on these
[00:04:38] issues. So, respect for the Constitution and Laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
[00:04:42] If we are not going to respect the constitution, then we sit down
[00:04:46] and agree on a new constitution. This constitution does not suit me
[00:04:49] either, this constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because it is actually
[00:04:53] a constitution that, uh, provided for all possible
[00:04:56] blockades, but did not provide for the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the development of institutions.
[00:05:00] The development of society, rapprochement with NATO and the European Union,
[00:05:04] and so on. Therefore, uh, I am for a progressive
[00:05:08] approach. Whoever can help this country move forward will
[00:05:11] have a dialogue partner." "You just said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a hostage
[00:05:15] of the political agreement between SNSD and HDZ, and then the logical
[00:05:19] question arises as to how much Bosniak parties are equally
[00:05:23] responsible for such a situation, especially those who are part
[00:05:26] of the government. Muamer Bandić from the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina says that before
[00:05:30] the elections, you falsely presented yourself as a protector
[00:05:33] of Bosniaks from crises that you partly created
[00:05:36] yourself. If I had wanted to participate in that, I would be
[00:05:40] today where I was."
[00:05:42] Therefore, since 2010, I have been pointing
[00:05:46] out these problems, and maybe Muamer
[00:05:49] Bandić has become a little senile and forgotten
[00:05:53] some things, but let me remind him that since
[00:05:56] 2010, within the political party
[00:05:59] of which I was then an active participant, I fought
[00:06:02] for change, change
[00:06:06] in attitudes towards institutions, towards the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately,
[00:06:10] I did not have a dialogue partner or I did not have a sufficient number
[00:06:13] of dialogue partners, because people were prone to
[00:06:17] leaving, they were not prone to fighting. I fought
[00:06:20] as long as I could. When it was said that it was
[00:06:24] a family inheritance, a political party, I kindly said thank you and good luck,
[00:06:27] I'm going another way. Mr. Mehmedović, thank you very much for being our guest, for
[00:06:30] discussing these topics live today. Šemsudin
[00:06:34] Mehmedović, member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia
[00:06:37] and Herzegovina, leader of the Forward party was with us for the past half hour,
[00:06:41] we will briefly comment. Then we talk about the election process and the October
[00:06:45] elections in Bosnia and
[00:06:45] Herzegovina.
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[00:09:03] Bayer.
[00:09:14] In the upcoming October elections, voters can expect a new
[00:09:18] voting system with biometric identification, optical scanning
[00:09:21] of ballots. The goal is greater security of the election process
[00:09:25] and faster determination of preliminary results. Special emphasis,
[00:09:29] they say, will be placed on the secrecy of voting. Dragica Gajić brings
[00:09:32] more information about that. Reading
[00:09:36] the identification document, voter search,
[00:09:39] authentication, identity confirmation, these are the steps
[00:09:43] to issuing a ballot. After that,
[00:09:46] the voter continues the procedure as before, takes a paper
[00:09:50] ballot that will be marked with a unique
[00:09:53] QR code and proceeds to vote.
[00:09:56] The difference is that after voting, the ballot is inserted
[00:10:00] into an optical scanner. The device reads the ballot
[00:10:04] and electronically records the result. The optical
[00:10:07] scanner does not record any information about how a particular
[00:10:10] ballot was cast, nor does it contain any
[00:10:14] personal data, meaning images of the ballot
[00:10:18] are randomly stored, which further
[00:10:21] protects the secrecy of voting, meaning there is no data
[00:10:25] on time, identification data, meaning there is truly no
[00:10:28] way for someone to know how someone
[00:10:32] else voted. They add that results are transmitted to the Central
[00:10:36] Election Commission only after the polling
[00:10:39] station closes. The president of the polling committee with
[00:10:42] his code, with his card,
[00:10:46] smart card, token, he
[00:10:49] locks the polling station, meaning when he
[00:10:52] enters his codes, they are. recorded until 7
[00:10:56] p.m., but if someone is at the polling
[00:10:59] station, they will exercise their right only at that moment. If there
[00:11:03] are five or six people, for example, until 7:05 or
[00:11:06] 7:20 p.m., they will be given the opportunity to vote. When there is no
[00:11:10] one left, at that moment, when the president of the polling committee
[00:11:13] confirms with a smart card and his code that it is
[00:11:17] locked, then it goes into lockdown. For the implementation of new technologies,
[00:11:21] 160 trainers have been trained.
[00:11:24] So far, 200 biometric devices
[00:11:27] and 200 scanners have been received. New equipment will be used at approximately
[00:11:31] 5,300 polling stations, as well as in the main
[00:11:35] counting center. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, optical scanning
[00:11:38] of ballots enables parallel electronic counting
[00:11:42] which supplements, but does not replace official manual
[00:11:46] counting. By consistent reading of each ballot
[00:11:49] and digital transmission of electronic results,
[00:11:52] the system supports faster publication
[00:11:55] of preliminary results and helps in identifying
[00:11:59] discrepancies that require additional verification. This
[00:12:02] system will prevent multiple voting,
[00:12:05] voting on behalf of another person, or voting
[00:12:08] with invalid documents, and any other
[00:12:11] misuse, according to those in the know. We had
[00:12:15] cases, that is not the case, it was a common occurrence
[00:12:18] for one voter to vote multiple times with different ID cards. I personally
[00:12:22] witnessed this at... two polling stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina where I
[00:12:25] was present. With these new technologies and biometric
[00:12:29] integration of voters, that will be prevented because the
[00:12:33] entire system
[00:12:36] is connected with the idea that
[00:12:39] at any given moment, it will be known whether it is the person who
[00:12:43] approached the elections by name and surname. Will
[00:12:47] the new system bring more security and efficiency,
[00:12:51] it will be known as early as October 4th, when it will be tested
[00:12:54] for the first time in BiH practice. Dragica Pejaković,
[00:12:58] N1.
[00:13:02] On this topic in the continuation, at a time of numerous political discussions about the election
[00:13:05] law, the introduction of new technologies into the election process, strengthening citizens' trust
[00:13:09] in elections, we are talking about the state of the election system, the challenges faced by
[00:13:13] the Central Election Commission, and plans to improve
[00:13:16] the transparency and regularity of the election process in BiH. Our guest
[00:13:20] is a member of the Central Election Commission, Željko Bakalar. Good day to you and welcome. Good
[00:13:24] day, thank you for inviting me. So, today there was a presentation, uh,
[00:13:28] of part of the system and how it will function. Citizens will, therefore,
[00:13:31] on October 4th, uh, for the first time, except for those who were in the
[00:13:35] test phase, uh, encounter biometric
[00:13:38] identifications and scanners. Can you explain, step
[00:13:41] by step, in brief, how voting will look
[00:13:45] on October 4th? Well, it will largely look
[00:13:49] as it has so far, with the changes that electoral technologies
[00:13:52] will be used in... the part that concerns
[00:13:56] the identification of voters, the authentication of their
[00:13:59] identity, and the way in which
[00:14:03] the ballot is inserted into the ballot box, in
[00:14:06] the part that refers to the appearance of the ballot itself, when
[00:14:10] we talk about elections for the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and
[00:14:13] Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the House of Representatives
[00:14:17] of the Parliament of the Federation and the Cantonal Assemblies in the Federation. So,
[00:14:21] it's about the fact that in these elections, we will
[00:14:23] have biometric devices for identification
[00:14:26] and authentication, where voters will use
[00:14:30] one of three valid identification documents, as before.
[00:14:33] These are, therefore, an identity card, passport, and driving
[00:14:37] license, with the condition that uh, these
[00:14:40] documents will be passed through
[00:14:43] a biometric device. We are currently discussing, watching how it looks. Yes, you have it on
[00:14:47] the screen. So, it will be passed through a biometric
[00:14:50] device on which data will be stored. This is effectively
[00:14:54] an electronic voter register, in contrast to the one that was previously
[00:14:57] in paper form, and where in
[00:15:01] the previous process, mm, numerous
[00:15:05] manipulations were made. So, the electronic voter register will be stored on
[00:15:08] the device exclusively for voters who are registered
[00:15:11] on the voter register for that polling station.
[00:15:15] After it is uh, confirmed that it is that
[00:15:19] voter, complete data from the database
[00:15:22] will appear on the screen, so... there will be a photograph,
[00:15:26] the voter's name and surname, mm, and after that,
[00:15:29] the voter will have to
[00:15:32] place their finger on the fingerprint scanner, storing
[00:15:35] one of the two index fingers that exist in the ID databases that
[00:15:39] our citizens provided when obtaining identification
[00:15:43] documents. What is very important is that this device will automatically
[00:15:47] be able to recognize whether the identification document that
[00:15:50] the voter is using is valid or has expired. If
[00:15:53] it has expired, the voter will not be allowed
[00:15:55] to vote, so you must come to the polling station with a valid document. Yes,
[00:15:59] we had a large number of used invalid documents. We recorded
[00:16:03] this in the audit of, for example, these last elections that we annulled
[00:16:06] for the president. The vice president of Republika Srpska recorded
[00:16:10] a large number of such mm
[00:16:13] cases. In this case, therefore, when this device is used,
[00:16:16] that will no longer be possible. By matching with the fingerprint
[00:16:20] that is in the ID database, the voter's identity will be confirmed
[00:16:24] to be a real person. This will, this will prevent
[00:16:27] manipulations that have appeared so far, that voting
[00:16:31] in the name of another person or multiple voting by the same
[00:16:34] voter, which in our opinion is one of...
[00:16:38] major electoral frauds that have occurred so far, and this
[00:16:41] will prevent that. I must for the sake of the public, for the sake of
[00:16:45] the spins that appear in the media, which are mostly
[00:16:49] instigated by opponents of the introduction of new
[00:16:52] technologies who come from politics, say that
[00:16:55] the device will not store a copy of the fingerprint,
[00:16:59] but rather a mathematical algorithm
[00:17:02] that is connected to that
[00:17:05] copy of the fingerprint. So, biometric
[00:17:08] data will not be, it will not be possible
[00:17:11] to misuse it. Not even a person who might get hold of such a
[00:17:15] device, those stored data, cannot absolutely misuse
[00:17:19] that personal data in any way. This is a special category of personal data, and we
[00:17:23] paid special attention to that, we adopted rules,
[00:17:26] adopted protocols, uh, in cooperation with the agency for
[00:17:29] identification documents and the agency for personal data protection
[00:17:32] who gave their opinion on our rulebook
[00:17:36] and we adopted it. "And now we just need to follow those protocols and
[00:17:39] store the data on the device. Mr. Bakalar,
[00:17:43] to what extent will this actually slow down
[00:17:46] the election process on election day? Well, it might slow it down a little, but
[00:17:50] not significantly, uh, indicators show that it goes quite
[00:17:54] quickly, mm, it could slow down if
[00:17:57] someone actually tries some manipulation, then you have to
[00:18:01] return that voter, or if the voter is not
[00:18:04] on the voter list for that polling station, then the device will
[00:18:07] print out which polling station they are registered at. Such cases
[00:18:11] can slow down the process a little, but mostly if voters are
[00:18:14] well-educated in time, well informed about which polling
[00:18:18] station they are registered at, there should be no problems.
[00:18:21] What will happen if during election day, for example, one of these
[00:18:25] devices breaks down or there is a power outage at
[00:18:29] the mentioned location? As far as electricity is concerned, we have no problems because
[00:18:32] each device has a power unit, meaning a battery
[00:18:36] that can operate for over 12 hours, so in that case there will be no
[00:18:39] problems with both the biometric device and the scanner. As
[00:18:43] for device failure, there will be technical teams
[00:18:47] on the ground who will, therefore,
[00:18:49] in a very short time, try to fix it, if there is a minor
[00:18:53] technical problem. In the extreme case, it can be
[00:18:56] replaced with a device in a shorter period. If that replacement
[00:19:00] device does not function, then there is,
[00:19:04] but only in exceptional cases, a possibility to revert to the
[00:19:08] traditional method, but this should not be a widespread occurrence. It can only be
[00:19:11] an exception that will not be tolerated. In the case of a widespread occurrence,
[00:19:15] we will consider what is happening. We believe that this will not
[00:19:19] be the case. You said that the voting process is not complicated, we are watching how it looks,
[00:19:23] however, uh, are the members of the polling committees, or
[00:19:26] rather, will they be trained by election day
[00:19:29] to adequately perform their duties expected
[00:19:33] of them at the polling stations? What is the biggest challenge for the supplier
[00:19:36] of this job and the Central Election Commission is
[00:19:40] to organize training, both voter training,
[00:19:43] voter education related to these changes I mentioned,
[00:19:47] and the training of election administration from
[00:19:50] the highest level to the level of members
[00:19:53] of polling committees. So, we have been pretty much hindered
[00:19:57] by various manipulations that have
[00:20:00] occurred in the political sphere, by preventing us from getting
[00:20:04] uh, quickly, the money that was transferred to us
[00:20:08] from the central bank, so that it would be operational, mm,
[00:20:12] by decisions, or rather, by decisions of the Minister of Finance and Treasury,
[00:20:15] but also by numerous complaints that came
[00:20:19] to our tender that we announced,
[00:20:22] which tried to slow down this process. Now we have
[00:20:26] 45 days left until election day, so about six weeks, and
[00:20:29] that's quite challenging. It would be more comfortable for us to have
[00:20:33] a little more time, but what does the supplier say? I want to ask you that...
[00:20:37] because there are already talks that the elections might be
[00:20:41] postponed precisely because the supplier
[00:20:44] allegedly will not be able to fulfill his obligations. What
[00:20:47] is your information about that?
[00:20:50] And spins, these are disinformation that mostly come from
[00:20:53] political circles. I will tell you that the Central Election Commission, even in
[00:20:57] our informal internal conversations, did not raise that as
[00:21:01] a topic. So, the elections are planned and will be held
[00:21:04] on October 4th. We have assurances that the
[00:21:07] supplier will meet all deadlines and that the equipment will arrive
[00:21:11] and be functional. Now remains the part that concerns the training
[00:21:14] of election administration, operators, and so
[00:21:17] on. Why was it decided that after scanning
[00:21:20] ballots, the mandatory manual counting of votes
[00:21:24] would be retained? This is something that people perceive as a question. Well, you can ask
[00:21:28] the former High Representative. So, that norm is situated
[00:21:32] in the election law, and that
[00:21:34] norm is something that we respect, and we will proceed
[00:21:38] in that way. And what if, for example,
[00:21:41] there are differences in the results
[00:21:44] of electronic counting and this manual counting?
[00:21:47] According to which results will the CIK validate? How will the CIK relate to
[00:21:51] that? This is also prescribed by the rulebook on the implementation of elections adopted by the Central Election
[00:21:54] Commission. So, it is very clear.
[00:21:58] The pilot project showed that very few
[00:22:01] polling stations had some deviations
[00:22:05] from the results displayed
[00:22:09] that occurred after manual counting.
[00:22:12] However, in any case, protocols exist, data will be entered,
[00:22:16] and, uh, from manual counting.
[00:22:20] It will be compared with the results displayed
[00:22:22] by the scanner. If there are discrepancies, generally, the central counting center will
[00:22:26] обязательно uh, count both manually and
[00:22:30] electronically, or receive from those polling stations, then those
[00:22:33] differences will be compared to see why the difference
[00:22:36] occurred, why the difference
[00:22:40] occurred, and the Central Election Commission is very
[00:22:43] clear that if there was manipulation, that the
[00:22:46] polling committee committed especially some major
[00:22:50] during the manual counting process, absolutely, mm, it will
[00:22:53] have all the data. I want to emphasize that
[00:22:57] the ballots are personalized, that
[00:23:00] we have 14 million ballots that will be printed
[00:23:04] and each has a personalized QR
[00:23:07] code. We will be able by revision
[00:23:10] to determine whether each ballot has been altered, whether
[00:23:14] there has been manipulation, then we will, of course, recognize
[00:23:17] the original ballots that have... passed through
[00:23:21] the scanner. I want to point out that the scanner will remember
[00:23:24] every original copy of the ballot that passed through the scanner,
[00:23:28] and what is truly the will of the voters will be available to the central election
[00:23:32] commission at all times. Any alterations can only be
[00:23:35] a matter for the judicial bodies, and we will
[00:23:38] of course submit that if such things happen. In previous
[00:23:42] election cycles, the biggest complaints about the CIK were precisely
[00:23:45] uh, regarding delays in announcing results. Sometimes we waited
[00:23:49] seven days or more. Can it be said
[00:23:52] now how much this new technology will speed up
[00:23:56] the announcement of official election results? That is one of the most important
[00:24:00] reasons why the technology related
[00:24:03] to scanners is being introduced. So the goal is to have results in
[00:24:07] a few hours, complete results in a few, these are preliminary results
[00:24:10] that will be delivered uh, therefore, uh, from polling
[00:24:14] stations, uh, so that we have them very
[00:24:17] quickly. Will political subjects actually have the opportunity
[00:24:21] to review electronic reports from scanners, for example, after polling
[00:24:25] stations close? Well, it depends on the case. I really don't know
[00:24:29] what situations might arise. We will assess and make relevant
[00:24:32] decisions. Uh, of course, for years we have been hearing
[00:24:35] accusations of election fraud, and what is happening today
[00:24:38] is actually, in a way, a product of that entire
[00:24:42] situation. Will these changes finally
[00:24:45] narrow the scope for election manipulations, given that they are
[00:24:49] almost impossible? completely removed, but
[00:24:53] will the elections actually become more transparent,
[00:24:56] fairer, will they restore voter confidence
[00:25:00] ultimately in the electoral process? This is the biggest
[00:25:03] electoral reform since Dayton to
[00:25:07] today, so the introduction of technologies, uh,
[00:25:10] it wouldn't be needed if in many election cycles
[00:25:14] what was happening didn't happen, so we have
[00:25:16] only in the last few election cycles been... brought
[00:25:20] into a situation where we have to annul elections due to manipulations we
[00:25:24] discovered at a certain number of polling stations,
[00:25:26] uh in the public space it is very often
[00:25:30] mentioned that these manipulations are much larger
[00:25:32] in scope, there are therefore ways in which
[00:25:35] political parties steal in elections,
[00:25:39] this is an attempt to have cleaner, more transparent,
[00:25:42] fair elections and to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process
[00:25:46] and to restore the shaken confidence of citizens and voters.
[00:25:50] "in the electoral process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is
[00:25:53] therefore mm in a way after
[00:25:57] the experience of this convocation of the central electoral commission with several recent
[00:26:01] election cycles and our attempt
[00:26:03] to uh through what
[00:26:07] we are doing, and we are quite alone, I must say, in Bosnia and
[00:26:11] Herzegovina we don't have general support from either the Council of Ministers or
[00:26:14] the parliament, which should be said, apart from a few
[00:26:17] state agencies and representatives of the international community
[00:26:21] to try to restore that
[00:26:24] confidence. Yes, since you're already talking about those pressures from
[00:26:28] political circles, some political actors claim that the Central Election
[00:26:32] Commission and its members act outside constitutional
[00:26:35] and legal frameworks and we hear it in recent days, how do you
[00:26:39] respond to those accusations? Well, these are mostly these political subjects and
[00:26:43] politicians who oppose the introduction
[00:26:45] of technologies, these are their ways of putting pressure
[00:26:49] on the institution. How much does all that
[00:26:52] actually complicate the work of the Central Election Commission? Well, we are not
[00:26:56] used to easy working conditions, we mostly work in difficult
[00:26:59] conditions. Uh, will uh... What also
[00:27:03] arises as a question, this electoral technology that will be
[00:27:06] implemented therefore in the October elections, will it be
[00:27:09] applied in local elections in two years, that is,
[00:27:13] in general elections in four years? Is it planned that this system
[00:27:17] remains in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the next electoral processes? That's right, and this
[00:27:21] tender was announced therefore with the obligation of the supplier to do everything
[00:27:24] he does for the 2026 elections, he has the
[00:27:27] obligation to do for the local elections in 2028.
[00:27:31] We have an extended warranty on equipment after that period and
[00:27:34] the plan is to work four to five election cycles with this equipment, and after
[00:27:37] that we'll see, we hope that technology will advance and
[00:27:41] we'll see what the situation
[00:27:44] will be with, and these are therefore the first elections with technologies, how voters
[00:27:48] will adapt to this system, what are the benefits of the system,
[00:27:51] so we will have an evaluation of all this after the elections. There were many
[00:27:55] objections to the appearance of the ballot papers, that is, their
[00:27:58] concept, uh, well, there were actually complaints. And
[00:28:02] how complicated it is, difficult to understand, uh,
[00:28:06] do we have, will we actually have some clarifications in the
[00:28:09] pre-election period, or maybe you already have some of that?
[00:28:12] I have, we have some of, I have already
[00:28:15] shown some media and the president, this
[00:28:18] appearance of the ballot paper, so the majority system remains the same with the names
[00:28:22] of candidates, these are ballot papers for the presidency and presidents up to
[00:28:25] presidents of Republika Srpska, these ballot papers which are therefore
[00:28:29] here, can the camera say
[00:28:32] this first, they are for for this is specifically for
[00:28:35] uh Canton one, add it to me, here you can
[00:28:39] see, so it is or or for this
[00:28:42] parliamentary assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have the names of all political
[00:28:46] subjects, that is, political parties, coalitions of independent
[00:28:49] candidates, on the side you have the maximum number
[00:28:52] of candidates that can be circled on the candidate list,
[00:28:56] that is, found in that election race, so what
[00:28:59] I will say, therefore that today. on our website
[00:29:03] for every municipality and city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, Brčko
[00:29:07] District, the candidate
[00:29:09] lists have been published, go to the website www.b,
[00:29:13] click on the icon elections 2026. General
[00:29:17] elections, there you have a link for candidate
[00:29:20] lists, there are 45 days for every voter to familiarize
[00:29:24] themselves with the lists that will be an appendix to each ballot paper
[00:29:28] and every voter will receive those lists, names of political
[00:29:32] subjects, names of candidates ordered by the order in which
[00:29:35] the parties ordered them, so for the parliamentary assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
[00:29:39] entity parliaments, cantonal assemblies in the
[00:29:42] federation, mm and
[00:29:45] practically they will be able to see if they want to exercise their right
[00:29:49] to circle in addition to the political subject and prefer certain
[00:29:53] candidates within the list, uh the ballot paper is adapted
[00:29:56] for scanners and we believe that it is not
[00:30:00] complicated at all, we just need to work on
[00:30:02] voters and we need to break these political spin-offs
[00:30:06] that aim to undermine
[00:30:09] confidence in the electoral process, that's exactly what I want to ask you, is there
[00:30:13] a fear that the political polemics we have been hearing
[00:30:16] in recent days about the electoral process will somehow diminish the confidence
[00:30:20] of citizens in the results, regardless of this new technology, that
[00:30:24] it will actually reduce voter turnout in the October elections?
[00:30:27] Well, we will do everything in our power to conduct a voter education
[00:30:31] campaign. To show them that it is their right and how they will
[00:30:35] exercise that right, politics
[00:30:38] will do its thing, I call on voters to go to the polls, to
[00:30:41] exercise their right and see on the spot
[00:30:45] that it is not complicated at all and to break this
[00:30:48] myth that some politics, I must say, a good part of politics
[00:30:51] supports this, only certain political options do not
[00:30:55] support it, what if the turnout is less than 50%? That...