2018 Bosnian general election


General elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 October 2018. Voters elected the national Presidency and House of Representatives, as well as the Presidents and legislatures of the two entities and the legislatures of the ten cantons of the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Electoral system

The three members of the Presidency are elected by plurality. In Republika Srpska voters elect the Serb representative, whilst in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina voters elect the Bosniak and Croat members.
The 42 members of the House of Representatives are elected by open list proportional representation in two constituencies, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Franchise

A total of 3,352,933 citizens are registered to vote: 2,092,336 in the FBiH and 1,260,597 in the RS. There are 77,814 persons registered to vote outside of BiH, out of which 76,729 persons are registered to vote by mail and 1,085 are registered to vote at diplomatic missions.

Turnout

Turnout at the level of BiH was 53.36%; FBiH 51.25%; RS 57.30% and BD 46.81%. The percentage was slightly lower as compared to 2014 that was 54.14%.
The BiH Central Election Commission reported that all 5714 polling stations closed down in time or with slight delay. According to the initial assessment by the BiH CEC, the elections passed in an overall calm and peaceful atmosphere.

Results

Presidency of BiH

The elected members of the BiH Presidency are Šefik Džaferović, Željko Komšić and Milorad Dodik. There was controversy over the election of the Croat member, as the non-nationalist candidate Željko Komšić won against the nationalist Dragan Čović with the help of Bosniak voters, with Komšić winning first place almost exclusively in municipalities without a Croat relative majority. The result prompted protests of Croats accusing Bosniaks of out-voting and calling for the creation of their own entity or electoral constituency. In the following days, protests were held in Mostar with signs such as "Not my president" and "RIP Democracy",
In the days following election, several municipalities with Croat majority declared Komšić persona non grata.

House of Representatives of BiH