The local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina planned for October will be announced no later than 9 May and the funds to hold the election have been secured, the president of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Irena Hadziabdic, said on Wednesday.

She told journalists in Sarajevo that the BiH Ministry of Finance has allocated €3.58 million for the election that was paid into the CEC account.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet adopted the 2024 budget, so the state is currently on temporary financing, which cast doubt on financing the election, however, that has now been resolved.

However, Hadziabdic warned that €3.58 million will not be enough because the October elections need to be organised according to the new rules imposed by High Representative Christian Schmidt, and they foresee the use of new technologies at a limited number of polling stations.

This requires the purchase of new equipment such as ballot scanners and video surveillance, which will require additional money.

The authorities in the Republika Srpska (RS) Serb entity are opposed to the imposed changes to the election law, with RS President Milorad Dodik threatening that the RS will pass its own election law.

Hadziabdic underscored that this will not hinder the implementation of the tasks CEC has under the current election law.

“We will do everything so that on 6 October voters go to the polls and so that everything is ready by then,” Hadziabdic said.

In the October election, voters will decide on new mayors and representatives in city and municipal councils. These elections are usually treated as a kind of test for the parties in power at the state and entity levels.