Polls close in repeat early presidential election for BiH's RS entity

The repeat vote was held at 136 polling stations across several municipalities in Republika Srpska.

The election re-run was ordered after Bosnia’s Central Election Commission identified voting irregularities during the November 23, 2025 election.

The early election was called after Milorad Dodik was stripped of his mandate as Republika Srpska president in August 2025 following a court ruling for defying decisions of the international High Representative overseeing Bosnia’s peace agreement.

The winner of the repeat vote will remain in office until Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general elections scheduled for October.

Stefan Gavric, head of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) city committee in Doboj, posted a video on social media claiming that activists of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) were buying votes at a hospitality venue in the city.

Election monitoring coalition “Pod lupom” (“Under the Magnifying Glass”) released preliminary findings from election day monitoring, covering the voting process, turnout and reported irregularities as of 3 p.m.

According to the group, early observations indicate a recurrence of electoral violations seen in previous election cycles, along with several isolated incidents that may have undermined the integrity of voting at certain polling stations.