BOŽIĆ: I HOPE ELECTION DAY WILL NOT GO AS TODAY'S TRIAL DID

BIJELJINA, SEPTEMBER 11 /SRNA/ – Dijana Savić Božić, chair of the Bijeljina City Election Commission, expressed hope that election day will not go the way today's trial elections did in this city.

"The Central Election Commission /CEC/ did not deliver the election materials, the specific electoral technologies, or the other accompanying documentation required to conduct the trial elections. So we were left to conduct a simulated election at a polling station where there are no voters listed on the voter register," Božić told SRNA. According to her, the trial elections in Bijeljina were planned at three polling stations. In the rural area, this was supposed to be the polling station in Obarska; in the city, it was supposed to be the Grammar Secondary School; and there was one simulated polling station, which was the only one opened today, in the Cultural Centre building. "Voters were informed, polling station committees were formed, which is extremely difficult for this election commission, given that it has not had a single convertible mark available for years and that no one is taking any steps to ensure the lawful and efficient operation of this commission," Božić stressed. She says the elections-related situation is very complex in Bijeljina. "The CEC is taking various measures to penalize political representatives over their statements, but when political representatives block the work of the Bijeljina City Election Commission or prevent the implementation of general elections, they do nothing," Božić warned. According to her, it is a fact that the CEC will not even call elections if funds have not been allocated, while the Bijeljina City Election Commission has been without funding for two years because the budget funds approved for it have not been made available. "I don't know how we manage to operate. It is not disputed that the members of the City Election Commission work for free, but people who were already engaged for the previous elections do not want to work, because unfortunately they have not been paid to date," Božić said. She says that political parties have failed to nominate nearly 700 members and deputy members of polling station committees, which means that the City Election Commission must fill those positions with people who were previously engaged under contracts, while those individuals have not been paid for the previous elections either. Božić said that around 3,000 people need to be engaged to conduct the elections in Bijeljina, while referring the question of whether the same number will be needed to the CEC. "For example, we need operators, but we do not even know who they are. Today, specifically, the operator did not show up, so we installed the electoral technology ourselves. The City Election Commission members were installing it themselves," Božić said. According to her, elections involving the planned new technologies are a far more complex process than those held so far. "I hope that introducing specific electoral technologies will improve the work of election commissions and the conduct of the elections themselves, that the elections will be more transparent and all the things people talk about, but we are not really seeing that in practical terms," Božić said.