Polls opened across Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday for a general election in which about 3.4 million voters are choosing a three-member presidency, a national Parliament and leaders of the country’s two entities, in a vote likely to shape the pace of its bid to join the European Union.
The ballot is among the most complicated anywhere. Voters are picking representatives for 14 governments, according to Al Jazeera: the state level, the two entities — the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, dominated by ethnic Serbs — and the federation’s 10 cantons, each with its own government. The Central Election Commission said 75 political parties and four independent candidates registered for the race.
Instead of a single president, voters elect one of three members of a collective head of state representing Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. Bosniak and Croat members are chosen in the federation; the Serb member is chosen in Republika Srpska. A Serb living in the federation, or a Bosniak or Croat living in Republika Srpska, can neither run for the presidency nor vote for the representative of their own group.
New technology arrived with this vote. Voters are being identified with biometric devices and ballots are scanned rather than dropped in boxes. Voting remains on paper, but verification and counting should be faster and identification more accurate.
The Bosniak seat on the presidency is contested by the incumbent, Denis Becirovic of the Social Democratic Party; Bakir Izetbegovic of the Party of Democratic Action, the largest Bosniak party, seeking a third term after his 2022 defeat; Semir Efendic of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Fahrudin Radoncic of the Union for a Better Future of BiH.
For the Croat seat, Darijana Filipovic of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina faces Slaven Kovacevic of the Democratic Front and Zdenko Lucic, backed by a coalition of five Croat parties. The Croat seat has strained Bosniak-Croat relations for years: HDZ BiH and its allies want the election law changed so Bosniak voters cannot influence the choice of the Croat member, a fix that would require amending the constitution, which lets all federation citizens choose either race.
The Serb incumbent, Zeljka Cvijanovic of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, is running for a second term against Marinko Bozovic of the Serb Democratic Party and Nebojsa Vukanovic of the List for Justice and Order. Since taking office in November 2022, months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ms. Cvijanovic kept up close cooperation with Moscow and President Vladimir Putin. Her party is led by Milorad Dodik, the former Republika Srpska president known for separatist moves and for defying the constitution and the decisions of the former high representative, Christian Schmidt.
Voters also elect the 42-seat House of Representatives, two-thirds from the federation and one-third from Republika Srpska; the 15-delegate House of Peoples, five members from each group, is chosen indirectly. In Republika Srpska, voters directly elect the entity’s president, vice presidents and National Assembly, which then confirms a government. In the federation, cantonal assemblies pick delegates for the federation’s House of Peoples, and presidents and governments emerge afterward through parliamentary majorities and political deals.
Forming governments has proved difficult even by these standards. Blockades and obstruction among the three communities regularly stall decisions at every level. The EU granted Bosnia candidate status in December 2022 and opened accession talks in 2024, but the country’s progress has since been assessed as very limited, slowed by political deadlock. Sunday’s result could free up, or further stall, laws needed for membership. It also tests a ruling coalition that promised to focus on social and economic problems as the cost of living climbs.
The election commission traditionally posts first preliminary results late on election night and updates them every few hours, adding votes from the remaining polling stations, mobile teams, and mail and diplomatic ballots in the following days. Official results are due no later than Nov. 20.