PRESS RELEASE
The Best Organized Elections So Far

According to the estimate of the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations in BH “IZBORI 2000” and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the general elections held in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the best organized elections since the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord.
Many drawbacks that had been noticed in the last elections did not repeat this time. The voting lists were updated so that relatively small number of voters could not be found on the lists. Except couple of voting polls, all the polls were opened in time and were supplied with sufficient quantity of election materials. It was not over-crowded at the polls. We particularly emphasize the fact that security on the voting day was at the high level.
The Coalition of NGOs in BH “IZBORI 2000” and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BH deem that noted irregularities did not significantly affect the outcome of elections, this leading us to conclude that they were regular.
The most serious violations of Electoral Rules were registered in Srebrenica. Momcilo Cvijanovic with a few SDS activists made pressure against the voters to give their vote to this political party. This was happening near the voting poll, and on that occasion the SDS activities were expressing threats and intimidating the voters.
On some voting stations, as it was the case in the local community of Logavina in Sarajevo, it was stated that the President of the voting board made about thirty voting ballots invalid, on which people voted for SDP. The observers think that the activists of the Party for BH did it.
In Todorovo, municipality of Velika Kladusa, in the very vicinity of the voting poll, there was a fight, with families Mujanovic and Agicic taking part in it. In Ustikolina, one drunken soldier tried to make an incident. There were also cases of making influence on voters in the rows for voting in Gornji Coralici, Japica Brdo and in Gorazde. However, the competent bodies reacted against all the stated appearances and prevented more serious consequences.
In Vedro Polje, near Bihac, a declaration about the referendum of the Croatian people on the voting poll was allowed secretly, and nothing was done to prevent it.
In Kalesija, on the order of SDA, the police stopped a vehicle carrying SDP supporters and disabled them to proceed.
When the silence day is in question, it was breached by the TV Gorazde that broadcast the statement of the removed municipal governor, a member of SDA, attacking openly the current SDP governor. Further, the Croatian Radio Mostar broadcast on the Election Day, the invitation of Ante Jelavic for referendum.
According to the Coalition of NGOs in BH “IZBORI 2000” and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BH, in the future, a greater attention should be dedicated to the education of members of the voting boards, foreign supervisors, and some smaller drawbacks should be removed from the handbooks for election officials.

For the Coalition of BH NGOs “IZBORI 2000”
and the Helsinki Committee for
Human Rights in BH

Srdjan Dizdarevic

Sarajevo, 13 November, 2000
No: 09A-11/2000

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