HADŽIABDIĆ: SOME POLLING STATIONS MAY REMAIN OPEN LONGER

SARAJEVO, October 4 /SRNA/ - Central Election Commission /CEC/ BiH member Irena Hadžiabdić said that some polling stations may remain open longer if there were delays in opening them.

"If the delays are longer than three hours, the CEC, in cooperation with the municipal or city election commission, will decide whether the polling stations will remain open for the same amount of time after 19:00. This will probably be the case in Bijeljina and perhaps some other places," Hadžiabdić said at a press conference in Sarajevo.

She explained that if there is an interruption of voting at a polling station lasting up to three hours or a delay in its opening, in accordance with the provisions of the BiH Election Law, the polling station remains open for as long as the delay or interruption lasted.

Regarding repeat elections, Hadžiabdić said they are held at locations where elections were not conducted on election day.

She said the CEC had information that some polling stations had not opened and that this would be discussed at one of the first sessions, while the municipal election commissions would receive clear instructions.

"This can happen within seven days, or within 30 days at the latest. Our goal is to conduct these elections using specific election technologies. The easiest thing, if you have a problem, is to decide to abandon the technology. However, it will not be that simple here," Hadžiabdić said.

CEC BiH member Vanja Bjelica Prutina said that problems with scanners during voting in the general elections in BiH would be possible to determine after a forensic examination, which will be conducted after the elections.

She added that the same situation occurred during the test elections, when certain problems with the devices arose, while a subsequent report determined that they had resulted from improper handling.

"It often happened that papers were inserted into the device one after another without respecting the red light, which signals that the scanner is still processing one ballot while another is being inserted. This type of forensic examination will be conducted," Prutina explained.

She added that, as for resolving these problems during the day, procedures are being followed, noting that they are in constant communication with election commissions and are trying to provide assistance.

CEC BiH member Ahmet Šantić said they were aware of the problems in Bijeljina but had managed to resolve them.

"In some cases, there was also a lack of knowledge among the operators, meaning the technical staff who were supposed to operate these devices, put them into service and assist members of the polling station committees. Unfortunately, we were unable to open polling stations on time at more than 30 locations in Bijeljina," Šantić added.

He said there had been a delay of around three hours in some places in terms of the start of the electoral process, but that the most important thing was that the problems had been resolved and the scanners were operational.

"Now we will probably make a decision together with the Bijeljina Election Commission on whether voting should perhaps be extended at those polling stations," Šantić said.