Overview
- With about 93% of ballots counted, the Central Election Commission put Karan at 50.89% versus 47.81% for opposition-backed Branko Blanusa.
- Karan, 63, is a former interior minister and close ally of Milorad Dodik, who was convicted on appeal and barred from public office for six years.
- Dodik cast the race as a proxy for his program and accepted the selection of a successor shortly before Washington lifted long-standing sanctions against him.
- Six candidates were on the ballot for roughly 1.2 million eligible voters in the Serb entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where polls ran for 12 hours from 06:00 GMT.
- The vote unfolded under continued friction with the international High Representative and against a backdrop of public resignation driven by economic strain and high youth emigration intentions.