Bosnia and Herzegovina General election 2026 (Opći izbori — Predsjedništvo BiH) — Results

What has happened since the count was frozen

The figures on this page are the Central Election Commission's preliminary count as it stood on 9 October 2026, and they are not its confirmed result. Two things have happened since, both from the commission's own decisions:

• A repeat vote at one polling station, held on Sunday 18 October 2026. On 8 October the commission annulled the election at polling station 200C019-Bukvik in Brčko District, after voters registered in Republika Srpska were handed an incomplete set of ballots — the paper for the state House of Representatives was missing, so they could not vote for that body. On 13 October it decided to hold the vote there again on Sunday 18 October, on the same candidate lists and the same extracts from the central voters' register, and it announced that morning that the station had opened.
• Hand counts at individual stations. In orders issued on 10, 11 and 12 October, and again on 16 October, the commission instructed the Main Counting Centre in Sarajevo to establish the exact turnout at a number of named polling stations, to open their ballot bags and look for the station result forms, and where they are not found to count the ballots by hand and enter the result.

Both are why the share of polling stations shown as counted in the commission's published files fell rather than rose in the days after 9 October. It has since passed where it stood then: the file of 19 October has 3,148 of 3,177 stations counted in the Federation for the Presidency and 2,052 of 2,082 in Republika Srpska. No station is marked as certified in any of the four files. The commission said on 12 October that establishing the result is its priority, and that postal, absentee, mobile-team and diplomatic-mission ballots were still being processed. The law allows it 30 days from polling day, so the confirmed result is due by about 3 November. This page will carry the confirmed figures when they are published.

At a glance

Bosnia and Herzegovina is scheduled to hold general elections on 4 October 2026, renewing the country's uniquely complex set of institutions: the three-member state Presidency, the state-level House of Representatives, the entity assemblies and presidencies, and cantonal parliaments. Designed by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, this layered system shares power among the country's three constituent peoples — Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs — across two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, plus the self-governing Brčko District. The 2026 vote takes place amid acute tension over the future of the state itself, following the conviction and removal from office of the long-time Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.

The voting system

Voters elect multiple bodies at once. The state Presidency has three members elected directly for four-year terms: a Bosniak and a Croat chosen by voters in the Federation, and a Serb chosen by voters in Republika Srpska, each by simple plurality. The state House of Representatives has 42 members — 28 elected from the Federation and 14 from Republika Srpska — by open-list proportional representation, and it forms one chamber of the state parliament alongside the indirectly constituted House of Peoples. At the same time, voters choose the entity-level assemblies (the Federation House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska National Assembly), the directly elected President of Republika Srpska, and the ten cantonal assemblies in the Federation. This makes a Bosnian general election one of the most institutionally intricate votes in Europe.

The political landscape

Politics is organised largely along ethnic lines. Among Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik's SNSD has been dominant, championing the autonomy of Republika Srpska and at times threatening secession, against the rival SDS and PDP. Among Croats, the HDZ BiH led by Dragan Čović is the main force. Among Bosniaks, the long-established SDA competes with newer parties such as the centrist People and Justice (NiP) and the multi-ethnic, civic-oriented SDP and Our Party. The Office of the High Representative, an international body created by Dayton, retains powers to impose laws and remove officials — a continuing source of controversy, especially in Republika Srpska.

The last election (2022)

In the October 2022 elections, voters chose a Presidency that mixed pro-state and pro-autonomy figures, and the SDA remained the largest party in the state House of Representatives.

2022 Presidency (elected member)	Vote %
Denis Bećirović — Bosniak seat (SDP)	57.37
Željko Komšić — Croat seat (DF)	55.80
Željka Cvijanović — Serb seat (SNSD)	51.65

In the 42-seat state House of Representatives, the SDA won 9 seats, the SNSD 6, the SDP BiH 5, the HDZ BiH 4, and a long tail of smaller parties — the Democratic Front, People and Justice, SDS, PDP, Our Party and others — shared the rest, so government formation again required broad multi-party coalitions.

What to watch in 2026

The overriding question is how the crisis surrounding Milorad Dodik reshapes politics in Republika Srpska after his 2025 conviction and ban from office triggered a separate early presidential election there. Other key issues include whether civic, multi-ethnic parties can build on recent gains, the pace of Bosnia's EU accession (it was granted candidate status in 2022 and opened negotiations in 2024), and persistent problems of corruption, emigration and economic stagnation. Because the Presidency and parliaments are elected on ethnic lines, the durability of the Dayton settlement itself is, as ever, on the ballot.

Geography of the vote

The country's electoral map mirrors its constitutional structure: Republika Srpska in the north and east votes overwhelmingly for Serb parties, Croat-majority areas of Herzegovina and central Bosnia for the HDZ, and Bosniak-majority cantons and the cities of Sarajevo and Tuzla for Bosniak and multi-ethnic parties. ElectioMap will map results across the entities and cantons as official figures are released by the Central Election Commission.

How ElectioMap will cover it

This page will report the three Presidency races and the state House of Representatives result, with a map of the entities and cantons, as counting proceeds. Figures are sourced from the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the body that administers and certifies the elections.

Na lokalnom jeziku: Opći izbori 2026. u Bosni i Hercegovini — rezultati uživo i interaktivna izborna karta rezultata po entitetima i kantonima (Predsjedništvo BiH i Predstavnički dom).

Frequently asked questions

When is the 2026 Bosnia and Herzegovina general election?

It is scheduled for 4 October 2026. Voters elect the three-member state Presidency, the state House of Representatives, the entity assemblies and presidencies, and cantonal parliaments — all on the same day.

How does Bosnia's electoral system work?

Under the 1995 Dayton framework, the Presidency has a Bosniak, a Croat (both elected in the Federation) and a Serb member (elected in Republika Srpska), each by plurality. The 42-seat state House of Representatives is elected by open-list proportional representation, 28 seats from the Federation and 14 from Republika Srpska.

Why is this election tense?

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (SNSD) was convicted in 2025 and barred from office, triggering a separate early presidential election in Republika Srpska. His push for entity autonomy and the role of the international High Representative keep the survival of the Dayton settlement in question.

Which parties are dominant?

Politics runs largely along ethnic lines: the SNSD among Serbs, the HDZ BiH among Croats, and the SDA, alongside newer parties such as People and Justice (NiP) and the multi-ethnic SDP and Our Party, among Bosniaks and civic voters.

When will results be available?

Under Article 5.29a of the Election Law the Central Election Commission publishes its first preliminary, unofficial and incomplete results at midnight local time on election day, then twice more within 24 hours and daily for the next five days; it confirms the final result as a rule within 30 days. Figures and a map of the entities and cantons appear on this page as the commission publishes them.

Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.