BOSNIA'S HDZ PROTESTS OVER SOME PROBLEMS AT POLLING STATIONS

MOSTAR, April 8 (Hina) - The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia- Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) on Saturday evening forwarded a letter to the OSCE mission's head in Bosnia, Robert Barry, saying that even 25 percent of eligible voters in some municipalities in Bosnia had difficulty to find out where they should vote during today's local election. This Bosnian Croat political party said that owing to such failures and problems "many voters, who sought for several hours polling stations where they could cast votes, did not want to vote on the so- called unconfirmed or sealed ballots, which are going to be counted in the Sarajevo headquarters of the mission of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe)." The party cited examples of several well-known Bosnian officials - HDZ members - who did not find their names at electoral rolls at polling stations where they had been listed for previous elections. The party asserted that this affected the final turnout and appearance of high percentage of sealed ballots in Mostar, Sarajevo, Bihac, Drvar, Kupres, Posusje, Zenica and some other towns. It requested from Barry, who is also the head of the Transitional Election Commission, to take adequate measures to overcome problems. (hina) ms