Bosnia's election commission refuses to release scanner and fingerprint reader data, TI BiH announces legal action

In a statement issued on November 14, TI BiH and the Pod Lupom Coalition said they had requested voter turnout data for individual polling stations, as well as figures showing how many voters could not be identified through fingerprint verification.

They also sought a list of polling stations where some of the new technologies were not used and those where discrepancies were recorded between electronic and manual vote counts.

What did the election commission say?

According to the statement, concerns were raised during the CEC session that the requested information could be misinterpreted if made public.

"These are individual data points which, if taken out of context, can be interpreted in different ways and could create a completely misleading picture in the public," CEC member Suad Arnautovic said.

He added that the data would not be released before the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed the matter.

TI BiH and the Pod Lupom Coalition consider the decision unlawful and have announced legal proceedings to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

Discrepancies recorded at polling stations

According to data collected by the Pod Lupom Coalition from a representative sample of polling stations, the number of ballots cast for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina matched the number of voters identified through electronic devices at only 55.8 percent of the polling stations observed.

Discrepancies exceeding three votes were recorded at 6.5 percent of polling stations.

TI BiH also reported identifying more than 500 polling stations with indicators that, according to international practice, may suggest potential irregularities.

These indicators included voter turnout exceeding 80 percent, invalid ballots accounting for more than 15 percent of votes, or a single candidate receiving more than 80 percent of the vote.

The organisations also pointed to what they described as an unnatural increase in voter turnout between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. in numerous local communities.

Why were the new voting technologies introduced?

Electronic voter identification devices were introduced to prevent identity misuse, while ballot scanners were intended to prevent manipulation of ballots and vote counting.

TI BiH noted that the technologies were introduced after previous election monitoring, court proceedings and handwriting analyses had revealed cases of voting on behalf of others, double voting and the fraudulent addition of votes.

The organisations argue that, since the election results have already been officially confirmed, there are no longer any obstacles to publishing the complete data.

They have called on the Central Election Commission to release the requested information immediately.