SNSD's Sinisa Karan maintains lead in BiH's Republika Srpska entity presidential race, final results still pending

With more than 98% of ballots counted (432,252 out of 439,897), the updated results show that Sinisa Karan, the candidate of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), is still leading the race for president of Republika Srpska. Karan has secured 217,324 votes (50.30%), while his main challenger, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) candidate Branko Blanusa, has received 208,955 votes (48.37%).

The remaining votes were split among four minor contenders:

• Dragan Djokanovic of the Alliance for New Politics (1,877 votes)
• Nikola Lazarevic of the Ecological Party of Republika Srpska (1,583 votes)
• Independent candidate Nikola Gasevic (1,284 votes)
• Independent candidate Slavko Dragicevic (1,012 votes)

CIK stressed that the results remain preliminary, incomplete, and unofficial, as a very small number of ballots are still being processed.

The current margin between the two frontrunners stands at 8,369 votes in Karan’s favor, making his victory increasingly likely once the final results are certified.

Out of 1.26 million eligible voters, 439,897 turned out to cast their ballots.

SNSD declared victory early on election night, prompting sharp criticism from the opposition SDS, which alleged massive electoral fraud.

SDS has formally requested repeat voting at three polling stations—Doboj, Zvornik, and Laktasi—arguing that these locations recorded the most serious irregularities.

Election Commission data shows a strong SNSD performance in all three:

Doboj: SNSD 68.17%, Blanusa 30.47%

Zvornik: SNSD 65.54%, Blanusa 33.50%

Laktasi: SNSD 65.02%, Blanuša 33.84%

SDS officials doubled down on accusations of fraud.

Darko Babalj, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a senior SDS figure, claimed that “SNSD has stolen the election again,” adding that the ruling establishment “will not leave power easily.”

Nebojsa Vukanovic, leader of the “Justice and Order” list, said that both Karan and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik appeared “visibly gloomy” at their press conference on election night, arguing that “they wouldn’t look that way if they had truly won.”

Vukanovic also described Doboj and Zvornik as “the two most problematic municipalities” in the entity, alleging efforts to manipulate the will of voters.

CIK BiH is expected to release the final certified results once all remaining ballots are processed and any appeals by political parties are reviewed.