Report On Elections

Report On Elections

Two days after the June 30 elections, the Albanian Helsinki Committee presented preliminary findings based on field organization monitoring, of which 115 observers of monitored the situation in the main cities across the country last Sunday.

Although only 182 centres were monitored out of 5,417 in total, the Helsinki Committee observed that the election campaign was in a "politically polarized situation”.

Monitors noted that during the voting day they have observed the presence of unauthorized persons at polling centre premises.

“It has been determined that unauthorized persons were present as party representatives, informing the electoral numbers of the voters.

“This is not allowed because this method of data collection allows for the identification of those who vote and those who do not vote.

“In our assessment, this constitutes an indirect form of intimidation against voters,” said Vjolla Meçaj, the Executive Director of the AHC.

Another concern that the Albanian Helsinki Committee raised was family voting.

“In the centres we were monitoring, it was noted that not all members of the Commission of Voting Centers had been trained to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively.

“This has resulted in some cases of violations against the confidentiality of the vote, such as allowing family voting in about 8% of the total number of centres observed by the Committee.”

The Helsinki Committee also reported that about 25% of voting centres opened after the designated commencement time.

EMISIONET