Local Elections, 6 October 2024
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Mission at a glance
Head of Mission: Corien Jonker
Core team of 11 experts from 11 OSCE participating States, based in Sarajevo
Mission schedule
28 August: Arrival of the core team
4 September: Arrival of long-term observers
5 September: Briefing of long-term observers
6 September: Deployment of long-term observers throughout the country
2 October: Arrival of short-term observers
4 October: Deployment of short-term observers throughout the country
6 October: Election day
7 October: Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions
9 October: Departure of short-term observers
13 October: Departure of long-term observers
16 October: Departure of the core team
Following an invitation to observe the local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina scheduled for 6 October 2024, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR is preparing to deploy an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.
Post-election press conference live stream: International Election Observation Mission
Monday, 7 October 2024, at 15:00 local time (GMT+2), Sarajevo
Long-term Observation
The mission is led by Corien Jonker and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Sarajevo. In addition, 20 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 6 September.
The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.
Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:
- election-related legislation and its implementation
- voter registration
- candidate registration
- campaign activities and financing
- the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies
- media environment and media coverage of the elections
- election-related legislation and its implementation
- the resolution of election-related disputes
The observers will also assess how prior ODIHR election related recommendations have been considered. The ODIHR EOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign and a limited qualitative and quantitative observation of election campaigns on social networks.
Election Day
ODIHR will request the secondment of 300 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to follow the election day proceedings. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two which will observe:
- the opening of polling stations
- the voting
- the counting of ballots
- the tabulation of results at all levels.
The day after the elections, ODIHR will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued some months after the end of the election process.
Previous Elections
ODIHR has previously observed 11 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most recently the 2022 general elections.