Bosnia and Herzegovina introduces new voting rules for October elections

For the upcoming general elections on October 4 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizens will follow updated voting rules and use redesigned ballots optimized for optical scanners. A total of 82 political entities are confirmed to participate, consisting of 49 political parties, 29 coalitions, and four independent candidates.

The most significant change concerns voting for parliaments and assemblies. Voters must first mark a circle next to the name of a political party, coalition, or independent candidate. If a voter only marks individual candidates without selecting their respective political entity, the ballot will be deemed invalid. After selecting a political entity, voters have the option to select one, two, or a maximum of three individual candidates from that specific list.

Due to the smaller ballot format required for electronic reading, names of political entities will appear on the left side, while candidate numbers will appear in circles on the right. Names of candidates will be listed in a separate section, requiring voters to match the name with the corresponding number. Central Election Commission member Željko Bakalar explained, "On the ballot, there will be names of political entities on the left side, and on the right, circles with numbers of candidates."

Analysts have warned that these changes could increase the number of invalid ballots if the public is not adequately informed. The use of optical scanners and new voter identification technologies aims to reduce multiple voting and other electoral abuses.