Bosnia's gender quota law masks limited female leadership in election lists

Bosnia and Herzegovina's electoral law mandates that a minimum of 40% of candidates belong to the under-represented gender, and parties have satisfied this rule with women comprising 42.2% of all hopefuls. However, United Nations data from its "Izvan Fokusa" monitoring initiative reveal that women top merely 15.5% of the submitted party lists, a position that typically secures election victories. The share of female-headed lists has dropped by 6.1 points relative to the 2022 general elections, indicating a gap between formal quota compliance and actual political influence for women. This disparity highlights the limited impact of the quota on advancing gender parity in elected offices.