Albania’s Central Election Commission has put a draft for diaspora voting into consultation as of Wednesday (3 August), and it will now be reviewed by political parties and other stakeholders.
At least 1.4 million Albanians are living abroad who would be potentially eligible to vote in general elections, a huge number considering the population in-country of 2.7 million. There has been a long-running campaign to include them as voters, but to date, progress has been slow.
The draft states that those wanting to vote must request to register no later than 15 days after the election date is set by the president and no later than 60 days before voting.
“The registration request is made by the voter from abroad to the Central Election Commission (CEC) through its official website or through an application that can be installed on various smart devices, approved by the CEC. The voter from abroad who wants to register must fill in the data required in the relevant electronic form which is made available to him according to point 3 of this decision”, says the CEC draft.
In the 2021 general election, immigrants found it impossible to vote. This was despite amendments to the Electoral Code approved in July 2020, which defined voting from abroad for the first time.
The leader of the Diaspora Movement for Free Albania, Bledar Milaqi, considers the draft a step in the right direction.
“I think that the first step is the right step, and it is more normal practice. I believe that the registration of the residence address outside of Albania is the first step to enable the request to the CEC,” he told Euronews.
” I believe that there is enough time for the political parties to consult with the draft, which is currently very satisfactory”, he added.
