The early elections scheduled for December 28 are expected to cost the state €7,771,486.56, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Besnik Buzhala, from the CEC Secretariat, stated during Monday’s meeting that this budget includes three main categories: salaries, goods and services, and electoral logistics such as printing ballots, postal services, transportation of election materials, brochures, the lottery for political parties, and municipal services.
For comparison, the general elections on February 9 were initially budgeted at €8.7 million, with actual spending reported at around €7.9 million.
The local elections, held in the first round in 38 municipalities and in the second round in 18 municipalities, had a planned budget of €10.5 million. The CEC noted that the final expenditure will be confirmed after the completion of the entire process, but based on previous elections, the final cost is usually lower than initially planned.
