Every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) living abroad who wants to vote in the General BiH elections has to register with the OSCE. A BiH citizen living abroad may register to vote only for her/his place of residence during the 1991 Census or between the Census and 6 April 1992.

Out of country voter registration is entirely conducted by-mail.

In order to register each new applicant first has to fill in a voter registration form, enclose a photocopy of a valid ID document with a photograph and mail/fax both to the OSCE’s Out of Country Voting Branch (OCV) by 31 May 2000.

Applications received after 31 May 2000 will not be considered for the General Elections!

According to the PEC Rules and Regulations, in order to be eligible to vote by-mail an applicant shall meet 4 requirements. To vote by mail a voter must:

1. have attained the age of 18 years by Election Day in order to cast a ballot. Younger people may submit an application that will be considered for future elections

3. have been a resident of a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1991 Census or between the Census and 6 April 1992
4. have registered as a voter

Every citizen of BiH who lived in BiH at the time of the 1991 Census or at the time between the Census and 6 April 1992 can register for the General Elections. To prove her/his residence in BiH at that time, the applicant should attach a residency receipt to her/his application for registration.

• Voters who have successfully registered for the BiH 1998 elections but did not confirm their by-mail registration in 1999 for the Municipal Elections held in April 2000 have to confirm their registration by submitting a registration/confirmation form together with a photocopy of a proper ID document to the Out of Country Voting Branch by 30 June 2000. If they do not do so, their names will be taken off the voters register.

• Voters who successfully registered only for the BiH 1997 elections but did not confirm their by-mail registration for the municipal elections held in April 2000 have to fill in a new registration form attaching a photocopy of a proper ID document to the Out of Country Voting Branch by 30 June 2000. They will not be mailed any form, therefore they need to seek a registration form at any of the OCV partner organisations listed above. If they do not do so, their names will be taken off the voters register.

What happens after the application for registration is received by the OCV Branch:

All new applications for registration received by 31 May 2000 will be processed at the Out of Country Voting By-mail Co-ordination Centre in Sarajevo. Each applicant who is found eligible to vote will be mailed a registration receipt to the address indicated on the registration form and advised of her or his status. This registration receipt must be kept and sent back with the ballot.

Out of country voters who will return to BiH prior to Election Day must visit a Voter Registration Centre mainly located in the municipality building in order to transfer their registration to the in-country voter register. To facilitate the process, they should bring their OSCE-OCV registration receipt.

In order to register, each applicant must prove her/his identity. Therefore it is mandatory to attach a copy (do not send originals) of one of the following documents containing a photograph to the registration form:

2. Passport
3. Driving License
4. Military ID
5. Valid identification document issued by a host country

6) Refugee card issued by a host country or other international organisation