BOSNIA VOTE ORGANIZER FINDS IRREGULARITIES.Byline: Srecko Latal Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The vote count from Bosnia's first postwar election has revealed assorted and widespread discrepancies including votes counted twice and totals added up incorrectly, the election's organizer said Saturday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), international organization established as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in 1973, during the cold war, to promote East-West cooperation. cautioned against prematurely calling the winners of the Sept. 14 election for a three-person presidency in Bosnia. Preliminary counts Wednesday showed Bosnia's Muslim president, Alija Izetbegovic, with the most votes. He will share the three-member rotating ro·tate v. ro·tat·ed, ro·tat·ing, ro·tates v.intr. 1. To turn around on an axis or center. 2. presidency with a Bosnian Serb, Momcilo Krajisnik, and a Bosnian Croat, Kresimir Zubak. The top vote-getter becomes chairman of the presidency. The OSCE OSCE Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe OSCE Organisation Pour la Sécurité et la Coopération en Europe (French: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) OSCE Objective Structured Clinical Examination said irregularities in the vote count were delaying the official tallies TALLIES, evidence. The parts of a piece of wood out in two, which persons use to denote the quantity of goods supplied by one to the other. Poth. Obl. pt. 4, c. 1, art. 2, Sec. 7. , which would likely not be available for several days. Election officials said discrepancies were not limited to any particular candidate, and refused to speculate about whether they would hurt Izetbegovic disproportionately dis·pro·por·tion·ate adj. Out of proportion, as in size, shape, or amount. dis  pro·por . ``We have found numerous errors of transcription, numerous errors of addition, and we have also discovered a series of problems with double entry of results coming at different times from the same counting houses A counting house, or compting house, literally is the building, room, office or suite in which a business firm carries on operations, particularly accounting. By an obvious synecdoche, it has come to mean the accounting operations of a firm, however housed. ,'' said OSCE officer John Reid John Reid may refer to:
Jeff Fischer, director of elections for the organization, said he could not rule out fraud. OSCE also announced a new date for Bosnian municipal elections, which had been postponed because of concerns over registration manipulation and violence in some cities. That vote will be held Nov. 22 and could extend over three days. The figure for the total number of votes cast has fluctuated since Wednesday's preliminary count was released. Friday's tally was 3 million ballots; by Saturday that had dropped to 2.8 million. Those figures are close to OSCE's original estimate of the number of eligible voters - 2.9 million, based on the 1991 census and other figures. There was no definitive figure because not all voters were required to register to vote. Voters selected the three-member presidency, a joint legislature and separate governments for the two parts of postwar Bosnia - the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb region. In the preliminary returns, Izetbegovic had about 36,000 votes more than Krajisnik. After the returns were announced Wednesday, the international community rushed to congratulate Izetbegovic, who would have no extra power as chairman but would have a psychological edge over Krajisnik and Zubak. Izetbegovic on Saturday thanked all who congratulated him and said he was ready for ``the challenge of peace.'' On Thursday, the International Crisis Group, a private watchdog organization, filed a complaint with the OSCE claiming irregularities in the vote tally. The OSCE and other international groups have acknowledged flaws but maintain the elections were as fair as possible in a country recovering from war and riven rive v. rived, riv·en also rived, riv·ing, rives v.tr. 1. To rend or tear apart. 2. To break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder. 3. by ethnic distrust. |
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