OSCE REPORTS ON REGISTRATION OF VOTERS IN BH

SARAJEVO, August 5 (Hina) - More than 500,000 demands for changes in the lists of voters had been forwarded to the offices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Monday, leader of the OSCE Mission for the Registration of Voters Christian Christiansen told a press conference in Sarajevo on Monday. Some 200,000 voters demanded a change of the voting location, while 25,000 decided to vote in absentia, even though they were in the country at the moment, Christiansen said, adding that some 10,000 voters were not on the temporary list of voters, but the OSCE Mission accepted demands for their subsequent registration. There were between 800,000 and 850,000 displaced persons in Bosnia at the moment, Christiansen said, adding that it was difficult to say how many would take part in the elections, but, according to registrations, at least 400,000 could be expected to cross the borderline between the entities on election day. It is estimated that between 2,900,000 and 3 million persons have the right to vote at the Bosnian forthcoming elections. OSCE offices granted 191,000 demands for registration to refugees who live abroad, 63,000 in Croatia. Exact data on registered refugees in Yugoslavia had not been gathered yet, but according to Judy Thompson from the OSCE Office for the Registration of Voters, estimates include between 250,000 and 300,000 demands for registration on the list of voters or its changes. Thompson said that almost 99 per cent registrations, apart from those from Yugoslavia, referred to a demand to vote in absentia in the municipality the citizen lived in before 1991. (hina) ha 051452 MET aug 96