The Slovenian company “Cetis”, which produces and prints ballot papers for elections in Kosovo, has admitted responsibility for the issue of irregular serial numbers found on some ballots in Mitrovica.
In an official statement, the company said it was “deeply sorry” for the incident but also hinted at shared responsibility, noting that teams from Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (KQZ) were present during production and examined the process.
“Despite implementing comprehensive security measures and strict controls based on the highest quality and safety standards, we take full responsibility for this error, which under normal circumstances would have been nearly impossible to occur,” Cetis stated.
The company emphasized that each ballot contains multiple security elements that cannot be replicated, making forgery highly unlikely.
“We deeply regret that such an incident occurred despite all preventive measures, including the personal inspection by your team in our production facilities,” the company added, indirectly pointing to KQZ oversight failures during the printing process.
The revelation comes amid growing controversy over alleged electoral manipulation in Mitrovica, where suspicions of vote tampering and irregularities have triggered public outrage and prosecutorial investigations.
This incident not only raises serious concerns about the integrity of Kosovo’s election system, but also puts pressure on KQZ to ensure greater transparency, supervision, and accountability in future electoral processes.
