NEW ELECTION TECHNOLOGIES CREATE COMPLICATIONS FOR VOTERS

SARAJEVO, JULY 9 /SRNA/ - New election technologies will present voters in BiH with one ballot containing the names of political parties and corresponding numbers, and another listing the names of party candidates in the general elections, making it difficult to speak of a clear, simple, and transparent voting process, the BiH edition of Večernji List writes.

"Instead of having a clear ballot with the names of candidates in front of them, voters would have to compare one paper with another, memorize or write down numbers, link them to political parties, and only then try to mark their preference correctly," the article says, warning that the potential for mistakes, and even manipulation, would be enormous in such a system. Stating that the model being introduced in BiH resembles electoral experiments in banana republics more than a serious preferential voting system, the BiH edition of Večernji List points out that similar solutions were implemented in Papua New Guinea and in the South African Republic in 1994. "What may have been a technical or transitional solution there is being presented in BiH as a modernization of the electoral process," the newspaper stresses. Despite submitting a bid that was BAM 17 million higher, Smartmacic, a company currently facing legal proceedings in the United States related to a corruption scandal, was awarded the contract for procuring new election technologies. At the same time, a number of allegations involving the company are being investigated around the world. "During preparations for the elections in BiH, it was established that the font on the ballot format intended to be processed by scanners, which essentially count the votes, was too small. As a result, a solution involving separate ballots, one containing the names of political parties and the other the names of candidates, was introduced," Večernji List states.