The Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved amendments to its electoral regulations concerning registration and voting for Kosovars living abroad. These changes aim to enhance the integrity of the electoral process, despite anticipated higher budgetary costs.
The first significant change mandates that voters outside Kosovo must now complete their registration using a real-time photo through the CEC’s platform.
The second key amendment involves the mailing of ballots directly to each registered diaspora voter, rather than requiring them to download ballots via an electronic platform.
Despite the acknowledgement that these changes will incur higher costs, the CEC emphasized that they will increase the integrity of the electoral process. These new regulations will apply to both upcoming local elections and any future parliamentary elections.
The need for these amendments arose from concerns regarding the integrity of the overseas voting process in the last parliamentary elections, as stated by Arianit Elshani, a CEC member from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). This new regulation was welcomed by other CEC members, including Alban Krasniqi of the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV), Muharrem Nitaj of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), and Samiti Hamiti of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), all of whom underscored its importance for electoral integrity.
However, the chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, raised concerns about the Secretariat’s capacity to implement these new regulations and abstained from the vote. Besnik Buzhala from the CEC Secretariat confirmed that the implementation of these regulations now rests with their office.
