ELECTION LAW
OF THE BRCKO DISTRICT OF
General Provisions
Chapter 2
Competent Authorities
Responsible for the Conduct of Elections
Chapter 3
Voters Register
Chapter 4
Certification and
Candidacy for the Elections for the District Assembly
Chapter 5
Protection of the
Electoral Right
Article 5.4
Chapter 6
Voting
Chapter 7
Rules of Conduct for
Political Parties, Coalitions, Lists of Independent Candidates and Independent
Candidates
Chapter 8
The District Assembly
Chapter 9
Transitional and Final
Provisions
In accordance with Chapter 18 of the Election Law
of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette" of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
No. 23/01) and Article 23 (c) of the Statute of the Brcko District of Bosnia
and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette of Brcko District Bosnia and
Herzegovina, No. 1/00"), the Assembly of the Brcko District of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, at its 72nd session, held on September 19, 2003, adopts
the
ELECTION LAW OF THE BRCKO DISTRICT OF
This Law shall regulate the election of the councillors
in the Assembly of the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter:
the District Assembly).
All matters which are not explicitly governed by
the BiH Election Law shall be governed by the provisions of this Law
("Official Gazette of BiH, No.: 23/01, 7/02, 9/02, 20/02 and 25/02").
Elections of the councillors for the District
Assembly shall be done on the basis of general and equal right to vote by
direct and secret voting.
The right to vote and to be elected (hereinafter:
"the right to vote") for the District Assembly shall have a person
who:
The territory of the Brcko District of BiH
(hereinafter: the District) shall be a single electoral constituency.
Funds for the elections from Article 1.1 of this
Law shall be provided for in the District Budget.
An elected councillor in the District Assembly may
hold only one public office. Councillors shall not hold any other public office
in the state level or the Entities of the
A mandate belongs to the elected office holder and
not to the political party, coalition or list of independent candidates which
nominated him or her on the candidates list. The mandate may not be terminated
except in the conditions stipulated by law.
In cases provided for in the Election Law of
Bosnia and
The mandate of an elected councillor in the
District Assembly shall terminate on the day when one of the reasons for
termination of mandate stipulated by law occurs. Notwithstanding item 5 of this
Article, the District Assembly shall confirm the termination of the mandate no
later than three (3) days after the reason for termination of the mandate has
occurred or become known. If an elected councillor of the District Assembly
resigns, he or she shall submit resignation in a form prepared by the Election
Commission of Bosnia and
In cases provided under item 5 of this Article,
the Election Commission of BIH shall confirm the termination of the mandate no
later than three (3) days after the reason for termination of the mandate has
occurred or become known.
Candidates of all political parties, coalitions,
lists of independent candidates as well as independent candidates and other
participants in the election process shall have full freedom to carry out
activities during the election campaign in the whole territory of the District.
Institutions of the District shall ensure that no obstacles impede freedom of
movement of candidates, supporters and voters during the entire electoral
process.
Competent Authorities Responsible for the
The competent authorities responsible for the
conduct of elections are the District Election Commission and the Polling
Station Committees. Members of the District Election Commission and the Polling
Station Committees shall be entitled to receive remuneration for their work in
accordance with a decision to be adopted by the District Assembly.
The District Election Commission members shall be
appointed by the District Assembly with the approval of the Election Commission
of BiH for a period of five (5) years and may only be re-appointed for two (2)
consecutive terms of office.
Polling Station Committee members shall be
appointed by the District Election Commission for each election.
Members of the District Election Commission can
be: the Presidents of District Courts, members of the Expert Service of the
District Assembly, persons employed in the District Administration and other
persons if they meet the conditions prescribed in Article 2.2 of the Election
Law of the Bosnia and Herzegovina, and are not in contradiction with Article
2.3 of the Election Law of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The
District Election Commission shall:
10. perform all other
tasks as authorized by law and by the regulations of the Election
Commission of BIH.
The composition of the District Election
Commission and Polling Station Committees shall be multiethnic, reflecting the
population of the District, bearing in mind the most recent national census.
If the Election Commission of BiH annuls the
appointment of the members of the District Election Commission or Polling
Station Committee because of violation of previous Paragraph, it shall notify
the District Assembly thereof. The District Assembly shall make new
appointments within seven (7) days from the day the decision of the Election
Commission of BiH is passed, in compliance with the criteria established in the
previous Paragraph.
If the District Election Commission or Polling
Station Committee is not properly constituted again, the Election Commission of
BiH shall appoint the members of the District Election Commission or Polling
Station Committee, in accordance with Paragraph 1 of this Article.
Unless this Law stipulates otherwise, the District
Election Commission shall take decision by simple majority of total number of
members.
The Polling Station Committee shall consist of a
President and two (2) or four (4) members depending on the number of voters
registered to vote at the Polling Stations. The President and the members of
the Polling Station Committee shall have deputies. The appointment of the
members of the Polling Station Committee and their deputies shall be made by
the District Election Commission no later than fifteen (15) days prior to the
date of the election. If the District Election Commission does not appoint the
members of the Polling Station Committee and their deputies in accordance with
this Article, then the Election Commission of BiH shall appoint the members of
the Polling Station Committee and their deputies.
The President shall manage the Polling Station
Committee and be responsible for its lawful work.
The President of the Polling Station Committee
shall ensure that the voting process at a Polling Station proceeds without
impediments, in accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia and
Central Voter Register contains names and data on
citizens of
The District Voters Register shall be established
from the data contained in the Central Voters Register, which contains the
names and information about all voters who have registered to vote in person or
in absence for the District Assembly.
The Department of Public Records of the District
Government shall be responsible for the registration of voters residing in the
territory of the District, as well as accuracy and validity of data provide for
additions to, changes and deletions from the District Voter Register.
The registration of voters residing outside the
District shall be under the competence of the Election Commission of BIH, in
accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia and
Deletion from the Central Voter Register shall be
under the exclusive competence of the Election Commission of BIH.
The District Voter Register shall be a public
document.
In co-ordination with the District Election
Commission, the Department of Public Records shall establish one or more
registration centres in public buildings or other locations designated for that
purpose, and shall arrange for and train appropriate staff members or other
persons authorized to register voter.
The registration of voters shall be conducted in
accordance with the Election Law of Bosnia and
Certification and Candidacy for the Elections for the District Assembly
Political parties, independent candidates,
coalitions and lists of independent candidates may participate in the elections
for the councillors in District Assembly.
In order to participate in the elections, a
political party must be registered with the
The Election Commission of BiH shall certify if
political parties, independent candidates, coalitions and lists of independent
candidates meet the requirements to participate in the elections, based on
their application for certification for participation in elections
(hereinafter: "the application").
The application shall be submitted to the Election
Commission of BiH trough the District Election Commission accompanied by all
documents and data prescribed by the Law. Provided that all requirements
stipulated by law are met, the Election Commission of BiH shall certify the
application for elections.
The application for elections shall include a
statement signed by the president of political party, coalition or independent
candidate in the Brcko District that a political party, coalition or
independent candidate shall undertake all activities in compliance with the
General Framework Peace Agreement for BiH and the Final Award for Brcko.
The application of a political party shall include
the list of, at least, 200 signatures of voters registered to vote for the
District.
After the first elections for the District Assembly,
a political party who has a seat in the District Assembly shall be exempted
from the obligation to collect signatures for the following elections.
A political party whose member holds a mandate in
the Interim Assembly of the Brcko District and who was appointed by the
Supervisor for Brcko shall not be exempted from the obligation to collect
signatures referred in the previous Paragraph.
A political party shall submit its application no
later than 140 days prior to the elections.
The application of an independent candidate shall
include the list of, at least, 100 signatures of voters registered for the
District elections.
An independent candidate shall not be exempted
from the signature requirement from the previous Paragraph, if he holds a
mandate in the District Assembly at the time of submitting an application.
An independent candidate who holds a mandate in
the Interim Assembly of the Brcko District and was appointed by the Supervisor
for Brcko, shall not be exempted from the obligation to collect signatures
referred in the previous Paragraph.
An independent candidate shall submit the
application no later than 140 days prior to the election.
Two (2) or more certified political parties may
form a coalition and submit an application under one name to the Election
Commission of BIH, in accordance with Election Law of Bosnia and
A coalition shall have the status of a political
party in the electoral process from the day the coalition application for
certification is submitted to until the election results are certified. A
political party that is a member of a coalition may not withdraw from the certified
coalition until the election results are certified.
A coalition may keep its previous certified
coalition name only if it consists of the same political parties that comprised
the certified coalition in the previous election.
Two (2) or more certified independent candidates
may join together and submit a single candidates list under one name. The list
of independent candidates shall submit its application no later than one
hundred and ten (110) days before the date of the elections.
The number of candidates on the candidate lists of
political parties, coalitions or lists of independent candidates may be up to
32. The lists shall be submitted to District Election Commission, which
forwards them to the Election Commission of BiH for verification in accordance
with the Election Law of the
Protection of the Electoral Right
Any individual, political party or coalition who
has a legal interest, or whose right established by the Law was violated, may
file a complaint with the District Election Commission no later than three (3)
days after the violation occurred, unless otherwise stipulated by law.
The District Election Commission shall have first
instance competence in deciding in all matters that are not expressly allocated
to the Election Complaints and Appeals Council, pursuant to Article 6.6 of the
Election Law of Bosnia and
The complaint shall be filed in writing. It shall
contain a brief description of the violation and evidence confirming the
allegations of the complaint. The complaint also must be signed by the
complainant. If the complainant is a political party or a coalition, it shall
be signed by the President or the authorized representative of the political
party or the coalition.
The complaint shall be sent to all parties who are
named. The parties named in the complaint shall have the opportunity to respond
to the complaint in writing within forty-eight (48) hours after receiving the
complaint. The District Election Commission may order a hearing of the parties.
The District Election Commission shall adjudicate
complaints in accordance with the Rules of Procedure established by the
Election Commission of BiH.
The District Election Commission shall adjudicate
the complaint and make a decision no later than forty-eight (48) hours from the
expiration of the deadline referred to in Article 5.2, Paragraph 2 of this Law
and shall immediately notify the complainant and the other parties of the decision.
The District Election Commission shall reject a
complaint filed by a person who is not entitled to do so under Article 5.1 of
this Law or shall reject a complaint, which is not submitted in a timely
manner.
The District Election Commission may order
initiation of measures in order to remove irregularities of complaint as
referred in Article 5.3 of this Law, which shall include but are not limited to
the adding or deleting a voter(s) name from the Central Voters Register,
removing an individual from the voter registration staff or Polling Station
Committee, correcting its own decision or a decision of a lower level body or
ordering an individual or party to halt activities that are in violation of
this Law.
An appeal to the decisions of the District
Election Commission may be filed to the Election Commission of BiH, except in
case of violation of the Code of Conduct, as stipulated in Chapter 7 of the
Election Law of Bosnia and
An appeal shall be submitted no later than
forty-eight (48) hours upon the receipt of the decision. Provisions of Article
5.2 of this Law related to complaints shall be accordingly applied for the
appeals.
Voting shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter
5 of the Election Law of Bosnia and
Political parties, coalitions, lists of
independent candidates and independent candidates shall have the right to
conduct the election campaign in accordance with Chapter 7 of the Election Law
of Bosnia and
Upon the proposal of the Mayor, the District
Assembly shall issue a decision determining the manner and conditions for usage
of public property in election campaign ensuring equitable treatment of all
political parties, coalitions and independent candidates.
The decision from the previous Paragraph shall be
adopted no later than 90 days prior to the elections.
The District Assembly shall have 29 councillors.
The term of office shall be 4 years and it shall
expire upon the certification of the next elections results.
Mandates are allocated in the following manner:
For each political
party and coalition, the total number of valid votes received by that political
party or coalition shall be divided by 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, et seq., as long as
necessary for the allocation in question. The numbers resulting from this
series of divisions shall be the "quotients". The number of votes for
an independent candidate is the quotient for that candidate. The quotients
shall be arranged in order from the highest quotient to the lowest one.
Mandates shall be distributed orderly from the highest quotient until all the
mandates are allocated.
Unless each constituent
people (Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats) receives a minimum of three (3) mandates, the
mandates shall be subsequently adjusted and given to the candidates of the
relevant people from the list of the political party, coalition, list of
independent candidates or to an independent candidate that received the highest
number of votes and are eligible candidates of the constituent people that did
not receive sufficient number of mandates.
If a political party,
coalition or list of independent candidates does not have enough eligible candidates
of the relevant constituent people, or does not have eligible independent
candidate of the relevant people to fill the vacant seats, the mandate shall be
transferred to the list of party or coalition, list of independent candidates
or an independent candidate, that received the highest number of votes and has
more such candidates on its list.
In terms of the
previous Paragraph the candidates on the list of political parties, coalitions,
lists of independent candidate or independent candidates who meet the
requirements of this Law shall be considered eligible candidates.
If a political party, coalition, or list of
independent candidates is allocated the number of mandates equal to the number
of candidates on their list and there are still mandates to be allocated, then
the remaining quotients of that political party, coalition, or list of
independent candidates shall not be taken into account when allocating the
remaining mandates. If an independent candidate wins a mandate, then the remaining
quotients of that independent candidate shall not be taken into account when
distributing the remaining mandates.
If a tie occurs because the quotients are
identical, the mandate shall be allocated on the basis of the drawing of a lot.
Mandates that are won by a list shall be
distributed first amongst candidates on the list who individually received at
least five percent (5%) of the total number of valid votes received by that
list where these mandates are being awarded in the order of the highest number
of votes to the lowest number of votes. If there are still mandates to be
allocated to a list and the candidates remaining are those who received less
than five percent (5%) of the total valid votes received by that list, in that
case the allocation of the mandates among the remaining candidates from the
list will be done according to their order on the list.
If the mandate of a candidate from the list of a
political party, coalition, or independent candidates terminates in accordance
with Article 1.8 of this Law, then the mandate shall be allocated to the next
candidate, as set forth in Article 8.2 of this Law. If the mandate of an
independent candidate who did not stand on a list of independent candidates
terminates in accordance with Article 1.8 of this Law, then the mandate shall
remain vacant.
Provided that all procedures stipulated in Article
8.4 have been exhausted, and in the event the number of councillors is bellow
the majority required by the District Statute for the adoption of laws, early
elections shall be held.
The term of office of the Assembly elected in
early election shall terminate on the same date the term of previous Assembly
would have expired.
The Election Commission of Bosnia and
Transitional and Final Provisions
This Law shall enter into force eight (8) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette of Brcko District of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Brcko District of BiH
Brcko
District Assembly
Number 0-02-022-291/03 President of the Brcko
District Assembly
Brcko, September 19, 2003 Mirsad Djapo, graduate
lawyer
(affixed by seal and signature)