Brvenica votes on machines for which the election commission signed an urgent 200,000-euro deal without a tender

Residents of Brvenica are electing a new mayor today, following the death of Jovica Ilievski, who died on 23 June aged 58. Voting runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 24 polling stations, and 16,256 voters are on the electoral roll - 449 of them temporarily working abroad, and nine in prison or detention. But the story around this election isn't only about who will win. It's also about the machines people will vote on.

The contract expired, the election arrived

The State Election Commission's (DIK) five-year contract with the German firm Dermalog for support and maintenance of the biometric voter identification system expired in August. The Brvenica election was called on 7 August, and the warranty ran out on 11 August. According to its president Bojan Maričić, the commission found itself in a "time squeeze" and reached for Article 55 of the Public Procurement Law - direct negotiation, without publishing a tender, with prior approval from the Public Procurement Bureau.

The price: around 200,000 euros for functionality and updates on just a handful of devices - as many as 24 polling stations need - for a period of three months. Last week German engineers, together with local experts, prepared the machines for today's vote. Divided by registered voters, that's about 12 euros per head just to get the machines working in one municipality.

Maričić insists there's no reason for anyone to challenge the vote, since the contract was signed on the same terms as the one in force for five years. Maybe so. But "extreme urgency caused by circumstances we could not have foreseen" sounds odd when the contract's expiry date was known a full five years in advance. The mayor's death could not have been foreseen - the contract's expiry could.

What comes next for the rest of the machines

A temporary fix has been found for Brvenica, but the system as a whole remains an open question. The commission says a team of independent IT experts is analysing the hardware and software, and a working group will be set up to research the market. Their assessment will determine whether the next procurement covers only software or a complete overhaul of the machines. For comparison, the biometric identification terminals, first used in the 2021 local elections, cost the state 11.2 million euros.

Six candidates in the race

Six candidates are running for mayor: Stojancho Radicheski of the VMRO-DPMNE-led "Your Macedonia" coalition, Jovica Radeski of the SDSM-led coalition, Jakup Useini of the Vredi coalition, Arkin Jahiji of the DUI-led coalition, and independents Dushan Bogdanovski and Arife Idrizi. In recent months the post of acting mayor was held by Robert Milosheski.

To win in the first round, a candidate needs a majority of the votes cast, provided at least a third of registered voters turn out. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two go to a runoff in two weeks, and if turnout is below a third, the whole procedure is repeated. Every voter today will identify with a fingerprint - on a machine whose life the commission extended at the last minute.