General Elections, 2 October 2022

Following an invitation to observe the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina scheduled for 2 October 2022, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR is preparing to deploy an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

Long-term Observation

The mission is led by Ambassador Peter Tejler and consists of a core team of 15 experts based in Sarajevo. In addition, 24 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 31 August.

The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:

• voter registration
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and financing
• the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The observers will also assess how prior ODIHR election related recommendations have been considered. The ODIHR EOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign and a limited qualitative and quantitative observation of election campaigns on social networks.

Election Day

ODIHR will request the secondment of 300 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to follow the election day proceedings. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two which will monitor:

• the opening of polling stations
• the voting
• the counting of ballots
• the tabulation of results at all levels.

Co-operation with other partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization intend to deploy observer delegations for these elections.

The day after the elections, ODIHR, together with its parliamentary partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued some months after the end of the election process.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed 10 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most recently the 2018 general elections.