Report: Is this your first time?

With the introduction of the passive voters’ registration system in 2006, there are approximately 15% more names on BiH’s list of voters. This increase includes first-time voters who have turned 18 since the last polls. To determine how responsive political parties are to new potential supporters, we called 15 Bosnian political party offices asking for information under the profile of a first-time voter.

Since the passive voters’ registration system was introduced in BiH in 2006, there are approximately 15% more names on the voters’ list. This increase in new voters includes first-time voters that turned 18 years old since the last polls. The High Representative and EU Special Representative, Valentin Inzko, emphasised that “the 80,000 young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time on 3 October can revolutionize the political landscape” in BiH.

To determine how responsive political parties are to new supporters, we called 15 Bosnian political party offices asking for information under the profile of a first-time voter, Voter X. The same presentation was given to each party, and the same questions were asked to every person picking up the phone, as well as to those whom Voter X has been forwarded. Using this qualitative approach to collect information, an analysis of the data was carried out in order to evaluate their ability to engage, be informative, invite Voter X to political events and promote their activities, and ultimately, whether they worked hard enough to gain his support.

Report: Discussion Paper: Is This Your First Time? (.pdf) >>>