A special panel of Albania’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has opened ballot boxes from 24 of 277 election centers in Berat to check election materials for evidence of irregularities after the complaint brought by the opposition parties concerning vote rigging in this district.
Besides ballot papers, each box contains a final report prepared by the voting administrators summarizing how the process unfolded in that center, the list of voters and the signatures of those who cast their vote, and data from the biometric identification device. The Commission on Complaints and Sanctions at the CEC will review this documentation following requests filed by the Democratic Party and Socialist Movement for Integration.
The results of the April 25 elections awarded the ruling Socialist Party 5 of the 7 parliamentary seats reserved for this district, and 2 to the PD. The LSI fell short by 77 of the votes required to get a seat in parliament, which it would have been taken from the PS. About 5,300 ballot papers were found to be invalid.
Both opposition parties claim that elections in Berat were rigged by the ruling party. The PD accused PS candidates Nasip Naço and Hatixhe Konomi of buying votes by distributing food supplies from state reserves, handing out cash or providing other forms of compensation to citizens in exchange for a vote for the Socialist Party.
The LSI focused its complaints on procedural irregularities, including instances of multiple voting, voting on behalf of others, and irregularities in election documentation. They claim that in three voting centers, boxes contained more ballot papers than there were eligible voters.
If the CEC finds evidence supporting the opposition’s claims that the distribution of parliamentary mandates was affected by irregularities or manipulations, it could order repeat elections.
The April 26 elections results gave the PS a third term in office, with the party gaining 74 of the 140 available parliamentary seats. The PD won 59 seats, the LSI 4 and the PSD, the Social Democratic Party, 3.
The Albanian opposition has vowed not to recognize the elections which they claim were rigged by the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. They have demanded that the CEC repeat elections in 9 of the country’s 12 districts.
