If no electoral irregularities occur, election day on December 28 may nevertheless be marked by potential power outages.
During a meeting held on Friday, the Central Election Commission (CEC) expressed concern over the impact that possible electricity disruptions could have on the smooth conduct of the electoral process. According to CEC data, out of 948 polling stations that will be open on Sunday, 888 could face interruptions in electricity supply.
CEC member from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Ilir Gashi, said the situation is highly concerning for the electoral process:
“A report that you have sent us is very concerning to me, given the warnings that around 888 polling stations may not have electricity. This does not necessarily mean for the entire day, but based on the information and report we have—and even more worrying—666 of them pose a high risk of potentially having no electricity,” Gashi said during the CEC meeting.
Meanwhile, the Acting Chief Executive of the CEC Secretariat, Besnik Buzhala, expressed hope that power outages would not occur, stressing that this depends on electricity consumption on election day. He pointed out that half of the polling stations lack alternative power supply options.
“The most problematic area across the territory of the Republic of Kosovo is Rahovec, which also distributes electricity to the Municipality of Malisheva. Two municipalities are particularly problematic, as well as the city of Prizren, where the transmission line supplying Prizren also supplies the entire Municipality of Dragash. These are the two biggest concerns of KOSTT regarding transmission,” Buzhala said, informing about meetings with KEDS representatives and the operational plan communicated to the CEC.
Following the meeting with the CEC, KEDS pledged to ensure stable electricity supply on election day:
“A total of 1,049 workers will be engaged, organized into 140 teams nationwide. Each polling station will have a team nearby for rapid intervention in case of potential faults. A central technical commission will operate for real-time monitoring and coordination, technical teams will remain on full standby throughout voting day, and full logistical capacity and IT support will be available to ensure the smooth conduct of the process.”
Several municipalities in Kosovo have experienced electricity reductions in recent days, and according to the Transmission System and Market Operator (KOSTT), the outages were caused by system overload.
