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P R E S S R E L E A S E
After careful study of the election results available so far for the three-person Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Crisis Group has come to the conclusion that there is a serious discrepancy between the overall voter population and the number of ballots cast. The comparison of those two figures suggests that the turn-out for the 14 September elections was a mathematical impossibility. Indeed when the voter population number of 2.9 million (provided by the UN) is compared with the total number of ballots cast of 2,431,554 (provided by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), and when even the most conservative estimates of the UN and the OSCE are accepted for voters who did not take part in the elections (among residents in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, refugees and internally-displaced persons), the result of the turn-out is over 100 per cent. While this analysis is based on election results that are still preliminary, they are sufficiently complete to show an alarming trend. The International Crisis Group believes that the validity of the elections is thus open to question and hopes that the OSCE will review the above conclusions before it proceeds with any kind of certification of the 14 September elections.
The International Crisis Group is a private, multinational organisation created to reinforce the capacity and resolve of the international community to prevent crises arising from human causes. Members of the ICG board include former heads of state and government, foreign ministers, MPs and leading figures in business and the media. ICG is chaired by the former US Senate majority leader, George Mitchell. |