Bosnia general election 2026 explained in maps and charts

Bosnians head to the polls on October 4. Here’s a quick guide to the voting process, candidates and what’s at stake.

A man walks beneath an election poster featuring People and Justice Party (NiP) candidates for the upcoming general elections in Sarajevo, Bosnia on September 29, 2026 [Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

Bosnians are heading to the polls to choose the next government at all three of the state, entity and canton levels. It may seem complicated, but for a country divided into two entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, along with Brcko District – this is nothing new.

When do Bosnia’s elections take place?

The general elections are scheduled for Sunday, October 4. More than 3.4 million people are eligible to vote.

What’s different about this election?

This year, new election technology will be used. Voters will be identified using biometric devices, while ballot papers will be scanned rather than simply placed in ballot boxes.

The use of scanners, however, does not mean voting will be fully electronic. Votes will still be cast and recorded on paper, but verification and counting should be faster and more transparent, while voter identification should be more accurate.

Who is running for the Presidency?

Candidates for the Bosniak representative include current Presidency member Denis Becirovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Bakir Izetbegovic of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Semir Efendic of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Stranka za BiH), and Fahrudin Radoncic of the Union for a Better Future of BiH (SBB).

Izetbegovic, the president of the centre-right SDA, the biggest Bosniak party in the country, is running for his third term after being defeated by Becirovic in 2022.

Three candidates will run for the Croat seat in the Presidency: Darijana Filipovic of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), Slaven Kovacevic of the Democratic Front (DF), and Zdenko Lucic, a candidate supported by a coalition of five Croat parties.

The current Serb member of the Presidency, Zeljka Cvijanovic from the right-wing Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), is running for a second term. During her term on the country’s top state body, which began in November 2022, just a few months after Russia’s war in Ukraine started, she maintained close and continuous cooperation with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

SNSD is led by Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, best known for his separatist moves and for challenging the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the decisions of former High Representative Christian Schmidt.

Cvijanovic will face Marinko Bozovic of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and Nebojsa Vukanovic of the List for Justice and Order.

Who else is on the ballot?

Voters will be choosing representatives for 14 governments, as well as members of the country’s three-member Presidency.

Each entity has its own president, assembly, prime minister and ministers. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is further divided into 10 cantons, each with its own government.

For all this to happen, the Central Election Commission (CIK), the main body responsible for overseeing the voting process, earlier said that 75 political parties and four independent candidates were registered and eligible to participate.

How are Presidency members chosen?

When registered voters go to the polls, they do not elect one president, but choose one of three members of the country’s collective head of state. They are the representatives of the three constituent peoples – Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs.

The Bosniak and Croat members are elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Serb member is elected from Republika Srpska.

This is because the majority of Bosniaks and Croats live in the Federation, while most Serbs live in Republika Srpska.

The election of the Croat member has weighed on Bosniak-Croat relations for years and has often been used as a reason for political blockades.

Parties gathered around the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) are demanding changes to the Election Law, saying they want to prevent Bosniak voters from influencing the election of the Croat member of the Presidency.

But that would also require changes to the Constitution, which allows all citizens in the Federation to choose whether they want to vote for the Bosniak or the Croat member.

What about citizens who live outside their constituent group’s voting area?

A Serb living in the Federation, or a Bosniak or Croat living in Republika Srpska, who wants to run would not be able to do so, nor can they vote for those they consider to be their own representatives.

That is one of the many paradoxes of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral system.

How is the state-level government chosen?

Citizens elect representatives to the Parliamentary Assembly, which consists of two houses.

Forty-two representatives will be elected to the House of Representatives.

Two-thirds are directly elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one-third from Republika Srpska.

A quorum consists of a majority of all members elected to the House of Representatives.

The second chamber – the House of Peoples – has 15 delegates and is elected indirectly through the institutions. It consists of Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs – five from each group.

What happens with the entities?

The election of entity-level authorities works somewhat differently.

In Republika Srpska, citizens directly elect the National Assembly, as well as the entity president and vice presidents.

They do not directly elect the government – it is confirmed by the National Assembly.

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizens directly elect the House of Representatives of the Federation Parliament and the cantonal assemblies.

Those cantonal assemblies then elect delegates to the Federation’s House of Peoples.

The president of the Federation, the entity government and the cantonal governments are formed after the elections, through parliamentary majorities and political agreements.

Why is it a challenge to form the government?

It is difficult not only because the electoral system is complex, but also because of the lack of agreement among representatives of the three different ethnic communities.

Frequent blockades and obstruction make decision-making difficult at all levels, even though many politicians invoke the politics of compromise.

Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, therefore, are not only about who wins, but about whether a system designed to represent everyone can serve its citizens.

Why are the elections important?

New election technologies might reduce potential fraud, but much more will be needed for the country’s path towards the European Union.

The outcome of the election could unblock, or further slow down, the adoption of key laws needed for the country’s progress towards EU membership.

The EU granted Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status in December 2022 and opened accession negotiations in 2024.

However, the country’s progress has since been assessed as very limited and slowed by political blockades.

These elections will also be a test for the ruling coalition, which promised to focus on social and economic issues amid the rising cost of living.

When are the results?

The first preliminary results are traditionally published by CIK late on election night, on October 4, and are updated every few hours.

In the days after the elections, CIK gradually enters votes from the remaining polling stations, mobile voting teams, as well as ballots received by mail and from diplomatic and consular missions.

The official results will be known no later than November 20.

波斯尼亚将于10月4日举行大选。以下是投票流程、候选人和选举重要性的简要指南。

2026年9月29日，在波斯尼亚首都萨拉热窝，一名男子走过一张印有人民与正义党（NiP）候选人参加即将举行的全国大选的竞选海报。[Armin Durgut/AP Photo]

波斯尼亚民众即将前往投票站，选举国家、实体和州三个层级的下一届政府。这听起来或许有些复杂，但对于一个分为两个实体——波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那联邦、塞族共和国以及布尔奇科特区——的国家来说，这并非什么新鲜事。

波斯尼亚何时举行选举？

大选定于10月4日星期日举行。超过340万人有资格投票。

这次选举有何不同？

今年将采用新的选举技术。选民将使用生物识别设备进行身份识别，选票将被扫描，而不是简单地放入投票箱。

然而，使用扫描仪并不意味着投票将完全电子化。选票仍将以纸质形式投出和记录，但核实和计票过程将更快、更透明，选民身份识别也将更加准确。

谁在竞选总统？

波斯尼亚克族代表候选人包括：现任主席团成员、社会民主党（SDP）的丹尼斯·贝西罗维奇，民主行动党（SDA）的巴基尔·伊泽特贝戈维奇，波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那党（Stranka za BiH）的塞米尔·埃芬迪奇，以及波黑更美好未来联盟（SBB）的法赫鲁丁·拉东契奇。

伊泽特贝戈维奇是中右翼政党民主行动党（SDA）的主席，该党是该国最大的波斯尼亚克族政党。他在 2022 年败给贝西罗维奇后，正在竞选第三个任期。

三位候选人将竞选克罗地亚族总统职位：波黑克罗地亚民主联盟（HDZ BiH）的达里亚娜·菲利波维奇、民主阵线（DF）的斯拉文·科瓦切维奇，以及由五个克罗地亚政党组成的联盟支持的候选人兹登科·卢西奇。

现任塞尔维亚族主席团成员、来自右翼独立社会民主联盟（SNSD）的泽尔卡·茨维亚诺维奇正在竞选连任。她的任期始于2022年11月，正值俄罗斯入侵乌克兰几个月后。在她担任国家最高机构主席期间，她与俄罗斯及其总统弗拉基米尔·普京保持着密切且持续的合作。

SNSD 由前塞族共和国总统米洛拉德·多迪克领导，他以分裂主义行动以及挑战波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那宪法和前高级代表克里斯蒂安·施密特的决定而闻名。

Cvijanovic 将与塞尔维亚民主党 (SDS) 的 Marinko Bozovic 和正义与秩序名单的 Nebojsa Vukanovic 交锋。

还有哪些人参选？

选民将选出14个政府的代表，以及该国三名总统之一。

每个实体都有自己的总统、议会、总理和部长。波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那联邦进一步划分为10个州，每个州都有自己的政府。

为实现这一切，负责监督投票过程的主要机构——中央选举委员会（CIK）此前表示，已有75个政党和4名独立候选人登记在册，有资格参加选举。

主席团成员是如何选出的？

登记选民前往投票站时，他们并非选举一位总统，而是从国家集体元首的三位成员中选出一位。这三位成员分别是构成该国的三个民族——波斯尼亚族、克罗地亚族和塞尔维亚族的代表。

波斯尼亚克族和克罗地亚族成员由波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那联邦选出，而塞尔维亚族成员由塞族共和国选出。

这是因为大多数波斯尼亚人和克罗地亚人居住在波斯尼亚联邦，而大多数塞尔维亚人居住在塞族共和国。

克罗地亚族议员的当选多年来一直影响着波斯尼亚克族和克罗地亚族之间的关系，并经常被用作政治封锁的理由。

围绕波黑克罗地亚民主联盟（HDZ BiH）的中右翼政党聚集在一起，要求修改选举法，称他们希望阻止波斯尼亚克族选民影响克罗地亚族总统成员的选举。

但这也需要修改宪法，因为宪法允许联邦的所有公民选择投票给波斯尼亚族议员还是克罗地亚族议员。

那么居住在其选区以外的公民该怎么办？

居住在联邦境内的塞尔维亚人，或者居住在塞族共和国的波斯尼亚人或克罗地亚人，如果想要参选，既不能参选，也不能投票选举他们认为是自己代表的人。

这是波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那选举制度的众多悖论之一。

州级政府是如何产生的？

公民选举代表组成议会，议会由两院组成。

将选出42名代表进入众议院。

三分之二的议员由波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那联邦直接选举产生，三分之一的议员由塞族共和国选举产生。

法定人数为众议院全体当选议员的多数票。

第二院——民族院——由15名代表组成，通过各机构间接选举产生。代表包括波斯尼亚族、克罗地亚族和塞尔维亚族，每个族群各五名。

这些实体会发生什么？

实体层面的权力机构选举方式略有不同。

在塞族共和国，公民直接选举国民议会，以及共和国总统和副总统。

他们不直接选举政府——政府由国民议会确认。

在波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那联邦，公民直接选举联邦议会众议院和各州议会。

这些州议会随后选举代表参加联邦人民院。

联邦政府、实体政府和州政府的总统均在选举后通过议会多数和政治协议组建。

为什么组建政府会面临挑战？

这不仅因为选举制度复杂而困难，还因为三个不同族裔社区的代表之间缺乏共识。

尽管许多政客都主张妥协政治，但频繁的封锁和阻挠使得各级决策都变得困难。

因此，波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的选举不仅关乎谁获胜，更关乎一个旨在代表所有人的制度能否为公民服务。

为什么选举如此重要？

新的选举技术或许可以减少潜在的舞弊行为，但要使该国走上加入欧盟的道路，还需要做更多的工作。

选举结果可能会解除或进一步延缓该国加入欧盟所需关键法律的通过。

欧盟于 2022 年 12 月授予波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那候选国地位，并于 2024 年启动入盟谈判。

然而，该国的发展进程此后被评估为非常有限，并受到政治封锁的阻碍。

这次选举也将是对执政联盟的一次考验，该联盟承诺在生活成本不断上涨的情况下，将重点放在社会和经济问题上。

什么时候出结果？

按照惯例，CIK 会在 10 月 4 日选举之夜晚些时候公布第一批初步结果，并每隔几个小时更新一次。

选举结束后的几天里，CIK 逐步将剩余投票站、流动投票队以及通过邮件和外交领事机构收到的选票录入统计。

官方结果最迟将于11月20日公布。