Bosnia’s Serb Republic former president Milorad Dodik said that his party’s candidate, Sinisa Karan, has won a snap presidential election on Sunday with a slim majority.
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The election was called after Dodik was stripped of his office and banned from politics for six years.
“Our candidate Sinisa Karan won today’s election,” Dodik declared at the headquarters of his Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party (SNSD).
The central election commission will announce preliminary election results on Sunday night.
The presidential vote will determine whether the Bosnian Serb-dominated region moves away from Dodik’s nationalist agenda or continues with separatist policies that jeopardise the internal cohesion of the fragile Balkan country.
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Zeljko Bakalar, a member of the central election commission, said preliminary figures put turnout at just over 31 per cent. More than 1.2 million people were eligible to vote.
Vote observers from a group of non-governmental organisations reported irregularities, such as shortages of electoral material at some polling stations, violations of the pre-election news blackout, election observation restrictions and pressure on voters.