Early Presidential Elections Held in Republika Srpska

Banjaluka (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

An early presidential election in Republika Srpska took place on Nov. 23, with 1,264,364 citizens eligible to vote, it was announced on the website of the Central Electoral Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The statement noted that 20,269 voters voted by post, while 258 would cast their ballots in Bosnian diplomatic offices in Munich, Berlin, Vienna and Belgrade.

Republika Srpska citizens voted at 2,211 polling places. There will be 139 mobile teams working in the field. The Commission certified the presidential candidacies of Dragan Djokanovic of the Alliance for a New Agenda, Branko Blanusa of the Serb Democratic Party, Sinisa Karan of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, former entity president Milorad Dodik's party, Nikola Lazarevic of the Ecological Party, and two independent candidates: Igor Gasevic and Slavko Dragicevic.

There were 639 accredited observers -- 515 representing non-governmental organizations, 99 representing international organizations and 25 representing political entities. The estimated costs of the early presidential elections in Republika Srpska are BAM6,460,000 (roughly EUR3.3 million), the Commission statement read.

The Commission called the early presidential vote after stripping Dodik of his presidency after he was convicted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and sentenced to one year in prison and six years of being prohibited from public office.