General Elections, 7 October 2018: Needs Assessment Mission Report

Following an invitation from the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to observe the 7 October 2018 general elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 25 to 27 June 2018. The NAM included Ana Rusu, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Alexey Gromov, ODIHR Election Adviser. The NAM was joined by Corinna Lensch, Research Assistant of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The purpose of the NAM was to assess the pre-election environment and preparations for the upcoming general elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of political parties, media, civil society, and international community. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.