OSCE ANNOUNCES BEGINNING OF OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTER REGISTRATION

SARAJEVO, April 17 (Hina) - Registration of Bosnia-Herzegovina citizens-voters living outside of their country has been underway since April 6, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Sarajevo reported on Saturday. A Mission's statement sent to the Sarajevo media said the registration procedure referred to some 300,000 BH citizens living in more than 50 countries, who now have the possibility to register as new voters or confirm that they have been registered for out-of- country voting. The registration procedure will last until July 10 this year. The temporary election rules envisage that every BH citizen who had resided in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991 will be able to vote in post- war elections, while all those who will be of age by March 31, 2000, will also be able to register in voters' lists. BH citizens residing in Croatia or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who have registered for out-of-country voting through post or personally, have the obligation to confirm by post that they want to receive ballots. Those voters who have not been registered for out-of-country voting and would like to participate in out-of-country voting in next elections, will also have to register by July 10. All who register for out-of-country voting will have to choose between voting in the municipality they had lived in in 1991 or in the municipality in which they had lived until April 6, 1992. All required forms are available for BH citizens in the central OSCE office in Vienna and in BH embassies and consulates throughout the world. (hina) rml