Press Releases

Sarajevo, 08.05.2024– The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has at its 21st session, held today, passed the Decision on announcing and conducting local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024. The elections will be held on Sunday, October 6.

Elections are announced for:

• 58 Municipal Councils in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• 53 Municipal Assemblies in Republika Srpska,
• 111 municipal mayors in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• 21 City Councils in Federation of Bosni and Herzegovina,
• 10 City Assemblies in Republika Srpska, 
• 31 city mayor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
• Assembly of Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Guaranteed seats for members of national minorities are provided in 21 municipalities for 23 candidates. A total of 3.200 councilors and 143 city/municipal mayors will be elected at these elections.

It is estimated that the local elections in BiH in 2024 will cost around BAM 19 million.

The Central Electoral Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Decision to conclude the Central Voters' Register as of May 7, 2024 at 24:00 hours, according to which 3.406.088 voters were registered in the Central Voters' Register.

Citizens of BiH who are abroad and wish to register to vote from abroad must submit their application for voting outside of BiH on the official website of the Central Election Commission of BiH from the day the election is announced until July 23, 2024, at midnight. Citizens of BiH who registered to vote outside of BiH in the last General Elections via the e-Elections portal must confirm their application, make any necessary changes, and submit the required documentation.

The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has also adopted Instruction on the deadlines and sequence of electoral activities. According to the instruction applications for certification of participation in the elections for political parties and independent candidates are to be submitted from May 9 to May 24, 2024,

We emphasize that applications for verification of a political subject, as well as applications for candidates and lists of candidates, must be submitted exclusively electronically through the online portal of the Central Election Commission of BiH, called “e-elections”. Access to the online portal can be gained using any internet browser by visiting the address of the election portal of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (https://eizbori.izbori.ba).

To open a user account and access the e-Elections online portal, a political subject must submit a written request to the Central Election Commission of BiH, which is available on the website of the Central Election Commission of BiH www.izbori.ba, which is delivered via e-mail: [email protected] .

In order to be certified for participation in the elections, a political party or an independent candidate must submit to the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina an application for participation in the elections, which contains at least:

1. one hundred signatures of voters recorded in the Central Voters Register for the elections for the Municipal Council/Municipal Assembly and for the Head of Municipality in a municipality where the number of voters recorded in the Central Voters Register on the day when the elections are announced did not exceed ten thousand (10,000) voters, or

2. two hundred (200) signatures for the election in the municipality in which this number exceeded ten thousand (10,000) voters recorded in the Central Voters’ Register;

3. five % of signatures of voters recorded in the Central Voters’ Register for the election of Municipal Council or Municipal Assembly and for the Head of Municipality, in a municipality where the number of voters recorded in the Central Voters Register on the day when the elections are announced did not exceed a thousand (1000) voters recorded in the Central Voters’ Register.

A political party and an independent candidate are exempt from the obligation to collect signatures of support for the city/municipal mayor and for the municipal/city council/assembly if they have a mandate holder as city/municipal mayor or in the municipal/city council/assembly for which the application is submitted.

If a coalition or a list of independent candidates won the mandate in the 2020 Local Elections, it is considered that every political party member of that coalition or every independent candidate on the list of independent candidates won the mandate and is exempt from the obligation to collect signatures of support

A political subject, along with the application for participation in the Local Elections of 2024, submits the following documentation in addition to the signatures of support:

1. The decision on entry into the register with the competent body for newly established political parties must not be older than 60 days. If the decision exceeds this timeframe, an original extract from the court register, not older than 60 days, must be submitted for previously registered political parties.
2. A statement as prescribed by Articles 1.6 and 1.13 of the BiH Election Law must be signed by the president of the political subject, and the authenticity of the signature must be confirmed by the certification of the competent body. This statement can be signed by the president of the political subject at the premises of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the presence of an authorized officer of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When signing the statement at the premises of the Central Election Commission of BiH, the authorized officer of the Central Election Commission of BiH verifies the identity of the president of the political subject based on a valid identity document outlined in Article 5.12 paragraph (4) of the Election Law of BiH
3. proof of payment of certification fee
4. a financial report covering the period of three (3) months before submitting the application, in accordance with Article 15.1a of the BiH Election Law;
5. a signed and certified statement by the competent authority that there are no outstanding obligations based on final and enforceable decisions on fines imposed by the Central Election Commission of BiH, except in the case that the payment of the fine is made in installments, in accordance with the Decision of the Central Election Commission of BiH .
6. account number for financing the election campaign in accordance with Article 15.1b of the BiH Election Law,
7. A report on turnover of a special account for financing election campaign expenses, in accordance with Article 15.1d paragraph (1) of the BiH Election Law (bank statements from the account or bank analytical card).
8. The act on the designation of the authorized representative of the coalition/list of independent candidates, signed by all presidents of the political parties of the coalition members/all independent candidates (submitted by the coalition and lists of independent candidates).

The fees for the participation in the 2024 Local Elections are:

1. Political parties pay BAM 2.000 for a political party that is running at the party's headquarters for the city/municipal mayor and municipal/city council/assembly, and BAM 200 for running in each new constituency for the municipal/city mayor and the municipal/city council/assembly as well as for the Assembly of the Brčko District of Bosniaand Herzegovina.

2. Independent candidates pay BAM 1.000 for candidacy for the municipal/city mayor, municipal/city council/assembly and the Assembly of Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The political party and the independent candidate are obliged to pay the fee from their transaction account, which will be used specifically for the election campaign during the 2024 local elections, to the account JRT number: 0000030000000145 at the Central Bank of BiH, purpose of payment: payment of the fee to the sub-account of the Central Election BiH Commission No. 37111614.

For the election of representatives to fill guaranteed mandates for members of national minorities, signatures of support from voters registered in the Central Voters' Register are not submitted and no fee is paid.

The Decision on announcing the election, the Instruction on the deadlines and sequence of Electoral Activities as well as all other by-laws essential for the implementation of the Local Elections in 2024 are available to all participants in the electoral process on a special subpage on the website of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina at https://www.izbori.ba/Default.aspx?Lang=3&CategoryID=1336.

You can watch today's session of the Central Election Commission of BiH on the YouTube channel of the Central Election Commission of BiH:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx3l03hZd58