All individuals who undermined the free will of citizens by manipulating votes, whether commissioners or candidates whose votes were increased, will be interviewed by the relevant prosecutor’s offices.
This was stated for KosovaPress by the national election coordinator, Prosecutor Laura Pula, who considers the Central Election Commission’s decision for a full recount to be appropriate.
The full recount in ten municipalities, as well as partial recounts in others, revealed irregularities in vote counting. “Manipulations” were discovered within party votes, where some candidates were missing votes while others had votes added.
This led to significant reactions and ultimately a demand for a full recount, which will now take place following the decision made today by the Central Election Commission.
In an interview with KosovaPress, Prosecutor Pula said that after the recount process is completed in most municipalities, regarding suspicions of vote manipulation, she has ordered the collection of evidence and the initiation of criminal investigations.
Pula noted that the December 28, 2025 election process ran smoothly, but after the recount, discrepancies were identified among candidates within the same political party. She described this as “internal manipulation,” since votes between different parties were not affected, but votes for individual deputies within a party were altered.
She emphasized that this constitutes a criminal offense of falsifying vote documents, as outlined in the Penal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.
Prosecutor Laura Pula added that the investigation will be thorough, and all commissioners involved in counting, as well as all candidates whose votes were increased, will be interviewed to clarify the reasons for the discrepancies and potential responsibilities.
According to Prosecutor Pula, a similar case occurred in 2010, when after elections, vote discrepancies were identified and around 1,500 individuals were charged, highlighting that such cases damage the reputation of the state.
She stated that a full recount in all municipalities is necessary to restore citizens’ trust and determine whether their will was compromised.
National election coordinator Laura Pula noted that for the investigation, the minutes of counting and recounting, commissioners’ signature lists, and verification documents will be required and compared to identify vote discrepancies.
In today’s meeting, the Central Election Commission decided to recount votes for candidates across all of Kosovo. In addition to recounting in 28 other municipalities, the mandate of political party representatives in the Municipal Election Commission in Prizren was revoked.
Previously, a decision had been made to recount in a total of ten municipalities, where it was revealed that significant manipulation of votes occurred within a party’s electoral list in Prizren.
On December 28, 2025, citizens of Kosovo went to the polls to elect the new composition of the Assembly of Kosovo and subsequently the new government.
