Bosnia's 2018 General Election Gets Underway

A total of 3,352,933 voters are eligible to vote at 5,794 polling stations at home and abroad for some 53 parties, 36 coalitions, and 34 independent candidates that have been confirmed as eligible to run by Bosnia's Central Election Commission.

Bosnians will elect a new state parliament, assemblies in the two entities, ten cantonal assemblies within one of the entities - the mainly Bosniak and Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - the presidency of the mainly Serb entity, Republika Srpska, and the three-member state presidency.

A total of 518 positions are up for election. Three are seats on the state presidency, 42 are for the state parliament, 98 are for the assembly of the Federation entity, 83 are for the assembly of the Republika Srpska and three are for the president and vice-presidents of Republika Srpska.

There are 21 to 35 seats vacant in each of the Federation entity's 10 cantonal assemblies.

Around 50,000 national and international observers are overseeing the voting in the 142 municipalities within eight electoral units - three in Republika Srpska and five in the Federation.

The elections have been marked by allegations of fraud and of manipulation with the identities of deceased people who have remained in the ID system, as well as questions about the imbalance between the number of valid ID cards and the number of registered voters in and outside of Bosnia.

The three state presidency members are elected from Bosnia's three constituent peoples - one Bosniak, one Serb and one Croat.

For the state parliament, citizens will choose 42 representatives, 28 elected in the Federation, and 14 in Republika Srpska.

Members of the two entity parliaments are also being chosen in general elections. Voters in...