Six candidates running in Bosnia Serb entity snap presidential polls

The early elections for the President of Republika Srpska were called after Dodik was removed from office following a final court ruling sentencing him to one year in prison for failing to comply with the decisions of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"It is time to confirm the mandate that the people gave to President Milorad Dodik three years ago. These elections are not ordinary. They are a plebiscite in which we must protect and affirm the popular will,” wrote Sinisa Karan, the candidate of the ruling coalition led by Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), in a post on the social media platform X.

Karan currently serves as the Minister of Higher Education in the entity government. Previously, he spent years as Minister of the Interior and is considered a staunch loyalist of Dodik.

This former pre-war police officer was also placed on the US sanctions list -- later removed from the list together with Dodik -- being identified as a person directly involved in drafting legislation for the potential secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

His main rival will be Branko Blanusa, backed by most opposition parties. A professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka, Blanusa enters the race with limited political experience but believes he can defeat Karan, arguing that the majority of people in  the RS entity are fed up with Dodik’s politics, which are marked by constant crises, tensions, and widespread corruption.

Another four candidates are also running in the elections scheduled for  23 November; however, analysts assess that these individuals stand no chance of winning.

Early vote is expected to cost around 6.4 million marks (approx. 3.2 million euro).

An appeal was filed against the tender for the transport of election materials after the selection of the bidder. Unofficially, the Appeals Office that was supposed to resolve this issue did not complete the work, as there was no quorum to hold the session.

The central voter register was closed on 3 November at midnight and includes slightly more than 1,264,000 voters who are eligible to vote in the early elections for the entity president scheduled for 23 November this year. All presidents and most deputies of polling station committees in the RS entity have been appointed.

Polling stations have also been designated abroad – at the BiH embassies in Belgrade, Vienna, Berlin and the consulate in Munich. Citizens who have registered to vote at diplomatic and consular missions, but for whom voting will not be organized, will be able to vote by mail. The SDS is starting its election campaign from Banja Luka, the SNSD from Bijeljina. The other candidates have not announced their campaign plans.