OVER 10% OF VOTERS GO TO THE POLLS IN THE MORNING IN BOSNIA ELECTIONS

ELECTIONS $ ORASJE/TUZLA/VITEZ, Sept 13 (Hina) - In the area of Bosnian Posavina 43 polling stations opened at 07.00 am Saturday morning in Bosnia municipal elections. Out of 43 stations, 19 polls are in the Croat- controlled municipalities in Ravne-Brcko, Orasje and Odzak, four are in the Moslem-controlled municipality of Rahic-Brcko and 20 are in parts under control of Bosnian Serbs. The head of Ravne-Brcko, Antun Filipovic, said that until 09.00 am more than 10 percent of voters cast their ballots at two polling stations in that municipality. The same percent of eligible voters was recorded at polls in Orasje, according to a local official, Zeljko Mikic. In Odzak one polling station is open for voters from the Bosnian Serb entity. According to the Bosnian Croat news agency, HABENA, 15 polling stations in Vitez, central Bosnia saw 17 percent of voters until 10.00 am, whereas more than 20 percent of voters cast their ballots at 16 polling stations in the same period. A spokesman for the OSCE regional office in Tuzla said this morning that all of 270 polling stations opened in the Tuzla- Podrinje Canton, and 229 polls opened in the Zenica-Doboj Canton. The spokesman, Paul Hockenos said that ten polling stations - two in Usora and eight in Zepce under the Bosnian Croat control - remained closed as a local electorate commission and polling committees had not taken election material. Hockenos told reporters that busses carrying voters had departed this morning from Tuzla for Bijeljina and Zvornik and from Kladanj for Srebrenica, Vlasenica and Bratunac. Their destinations are the Serb-controlled municipalities in eastern Bosnia. In the course of the day other voters from the Tuzla-Podrinje Canton, registered to vote in the Serb entity, will travel in an organised manner to municipalities in the Republic of Srpska where they want to cast their ballots. (hina) mm mš 131437 MET sep 97