Bosnia election opens amid voting delays and political tensions

Voting opened Sunday in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general election, with about 3.4 million voters choosing members of the country’s three-person presidency, national lawmakers and leaders of its two entities. Early reports said new digital voting equipment prevented voting from starting on time at multiple polling places. The scale and duration of the delays were not established, and no election results were reported. The contest is taking place in a country whose governing system was shaped by the 1995 U.S.-brokered peace agreement, which followed the 1992-95 war and created institutions intended to manage divisions among Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Voters are selecting representatives across the state and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, the two entities that make up the country. Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, has been a central figure in the campaign despite not appearing on the ballot. He is barred from public office after being convicted of defying decisions by the international envoy overseeing the peace agreement.