Bosnia and Herzegovina's October 4 general election has produced several winners, each with a different claim to power. Preliminary results put Denis Bećirović and Željka Cvijanović on course to retain their seats in the three-member state presidency, with Darijana Filipović joining them as the Croat member. In the parliamentary contests, SDA and Milorad Dodik's SNSD emerged ahead in their respective electoral territories. The count remains provisional. N1's breakdown of the preliminary results shows why declaring a single national winner would miss much of what happened.
The Levant Files Editorial Desk
5 October 2026 | Based on preliminary results and reporting available on publication day
Who Won the Presidency?
Denis Bećirović, the Social Democratic Party politician, led the Bosniak race. At the first published snapshot, with 80 percent of polling stations processed, he had 164,369 votes against Bakir Izetbegović's 148,036. Semir Efendić followed with 110,530. These are election-night figures, rather than final totals, as N1's initial report explicitly cautioned.
Izetbegović conceded. In his election-night remarks reported by N1, the SDA leader congratulated Bećirović and acknowledged that his own performance had fallen short of his party's. That distinction explains a great deal about this election: voters could support SDA for parliament while choosing someone else for the presidency.
Darijana Filipović of HDZ BiH led the Croat contest. The same early count gave her 92,854 votes, followed by Slaven Kovačević with 55,475 and Zdenko Lučić with 44,345. Her arrival would change the Croat representation in the presidency and give HDZ a direct foothold in the collective head of state. Source: N1.
Željka Cvijanović of SNSD led the Serb race. She had 213,812 votes at that snapshot, ahead of Marinko Božović's 102,877 and Nebojša Vukanović's 67,707. Together, the three leaders point to a presidency combining Bećirović's centre-left politics with HDZ's Croat nationalism and SNSD's Serb nationalism. Source: N1.
Dodik's Party Holds Ground in Republika Srpska
Savo Minić, SNSD's candidate, was the apparent winner of the separate election for president of Republika Srpska. A later preliminary count, covering 92.26 percent of polling stations, put him at 269,647 votes, or 52.06 percent, against opposition candidate Branko Blanuša's 216,980, or 41.89 percent. BL Portal reported those commission figures.
This is a separate office. Minić's lead concerns the presidency of the Serb-majority entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cvijanović's concerns its Serb seat in the state presidency.
SNSD also topped the preliminary Republika Srpska assembly count, with 38.93 percent. Draško Stanivuković's Pokret Sigurna Srpska followed on 14.19 percent, ahead of SDS on 12.27 percent, according to N1's report on the assembly results. Opposition votes were spread across competing lists. SNSD's first-place finish gives it an advantage in negotiations, although a party's vote share alone does not establish a parliamentary majority.
Dodik claimed victory despite his absence from the ballot. He had been barred from public office following his conviction for defying the international peace envoy's decisions, but remained central to SNSD's campaign. The Associated Press reported his victory declaration. The preliminary results suggest that removing Dodik from office has left his party's electoral strength largely intact.
SDA Wins Votes While Izetbegović Loses
SDA led the early count for the state House of Representatives seats elected from the Federation, with 186,675 votes. SDP followed with 91,886 and the HDZ-led coalition with 83,834. In the Federation's own parliamentary contest, SDA again stood first, ahead of SDP and the HDZ-led list. For state parliament seats elected from Republika Srpska, SNSD led. N1 published the separate tallies.
Those results give SDA a stronger bargaining position than Izetbegović's personal defeat might suggest. His concession speech already looked ahead to coalition talks, including possible arrangements in Sarajevo Canton. He said SDA would negotiate with parties capable of supplying the votes needed to form a government. Source: N1's account of his remarks.
The governing Trojka parties faced uncomfortable questions. People and Justice leader Elmedin Konaković acknowledged that his party had expected a better result and said it had paid heavily for voters' complaints about the coalition. He also congratulated Efendić on his presidential performance. N1 reported his assessment.
Coalition talks could be difficult. Konaković called for a government formed without SNSD, a demand that runs straight into the party's strong showing in Republika Srpska. Whether such an arrangement can command the necessary parliamentary support remains unresolved.
Low Turnout and a New Way of Counting
Turnout was about 42 percent. The commission recorded 1,432,269 votes cast, according to AP's election report. Fewer than half of registered voters participated, a sobering figure alongside the celebrations at party headquarters. The number establishes the scale of participation, although it cannot tell us why each person stayed away.
October 4 also brought a nationwide test of biometric voter identification, ballot scanners and electronic transmission of results. The OSCE described the new technologies before polling day as an important change to the conduct of general elections.
The EU delegation and election commission said the equipment was intended to reduce manipulation and speed up reporting. Those are objectives. Assessing whether the rollout delivered them requires scrutiny of how the systems worked, the complaints filed and the findings of election observers.
What Happens Next?
Bosnia voted across several layers of government, including the state and entity parliaments and the Federation's cantonal assemblies. N1's election-day coverage explains the offices contested. Winning a presidency seat therefore settles only part of the question of who will govern.
For the European Union, the eventual coalitions will matter because they must pass and implement reforms. EU leaders gave the political green light to open accession negotiations in March 2024, while Bosnia's membership process continues to depend on changes involving the rule of law, public administration and the functioning of the state. The Council of the EU sets out those requirements.
The election has returned strong negotiating positions to parties with sharply different ideas about Bosnia's future. That makes fresh political bargaining likely. It also leaves the pace of reform dependent on agreements that the preliminary vote totals cannot yet reveal.
The next steps are the remaining count, the handling of complaints and certification, followed by the allocation of seats and government negotiations. Bosnia's Central Election Commission labels the published results preliminary and directs readers to its official results portal. Final mandates and canton-by-canton governing arrangements should be checked there as the process advances.