Albanian Election Live Blog: Afternoon

Today, Albanians take to the polls to elect a new government and parliament. By 11 am, a high turnout of voters had been recorded, as much as 4% higher than at the same hour in the last elections in 2017.

So far, election day has been relatively peaceful with no significant disturbances reported. The biggest issue has been with biometric identification software that has either malfunctioned, or operators have been unable to use them.

A total of 5199 polling stations are open throughout the country between 7 am and 7 pm. After the polls close, votes will be counted in 92 vote counting centers.

Exit will bring you a running update of events as they happen.

19:00

• Voting at all voting centers across Albania has officially closed.

18:48

• There has been a low voter turnout amongst those with disabilities. One voting center in Kukes reported that just 16 out of 62 disabled people voted.

18:42

• As of 18:00, 45.49% of eligible voters have cast their ballot. When you consider the majority of 1.7 million emigrants have been unable to vote, the actual turnout within the country is around 80%.

18:31

• Police in Tropoje have arrested one person and declared two others wanted after they beat and then threatened a citizen with a gun. The incident took place at a voting center in Lekbibaj. Euronews reported that the assailants were from PD and the victim was from PS.

18:02

• There have been reports of unauthorized people loitering at voting centers in Durres. At the Isuf Ferra School in Shkozet, BIRN reported that luxury vehicles without license plates drove into the schoolyard and others parked there. Individuals stood around to allegedly influence, take people, make gestures, and photograph voters as a means of intimidation.
• Reports were also made that family voting was taking place along with vote photographing in the Durres region.

17:56

• As Albania enters the last hour of voting, the Socialist Party has called on those who haven’t voted, to do so.

17:54

• Democratic Party chairman Lulzim Basha called on people to knock on their neighbours doors if they haven’t already voted, and “lead them to the ballot stations.”

17:46

• LSI candidate in Gjirokaster Vangjel Tavo said that Albanians coming from North Macedonia and Greece are allowed to vote and forgo quarantine if they are voting for the Socialist Party. He claimed that PS supporters are allowed to move freely while opposition supporters are being checked on several times per day by the police. He said he has filed a report with the prosecution and has submitted a list of names.

17:44

• A voting center in Kavaja has closed three hours before the official end of voting. The Commissioner told the media that there were no more people left to vote and that they had been sat there idle for several hours. He said there are 100 houses in the village and most people live abroad.

17:41

• Dibra continues to lead the way in voter turn out with almost 50% of those eligible to vote, casting a ballot. Tirana is second and Vlora is last with a very low turnout.

17:39

• Voting at the Drenova prison in Korca has been concluded. Out of 465 prisoners, 110 voted while 183 were unable to due to the law on decriminalization. 158 others didn’t vote as they did not have ID cards.

17:25

• The process of detainees in Fier prison has concluded. A total of 186 individuals cast their vote out of 256 who had the right to. 70 of those eligible to vote did not have an identity card or biometric passport and some were excluded due to the decriminalization law. The ballot boxes will not be sent to the counting center in Patos.

17:21

• Two hours before voting centers close and the voter turnout has already exceeded the 2017 and 2013 general elections where current Prime Minister Edi Rama swept to victory.

17:17

• The 2021 Albanian elections are the most expensive in the country’s history. Some EUR 20 million was spent just on the biometric identification system, in addition to electronic voting in one area of Tirana.
• In contrast, Kosovo spends an average of EUR 4.7 million per election.

17:13

• President Ilir Meta stopped in Fier this afternoon to follow the election process. He said that so far the voting has gone smoothly both in Fier and throughout the country. He called for this to continue, not just to the end of the voting process, but also during the vote counting.
• The vote counting process will start when the polls close at 7 pm and are expected to continue throughout the night and into tomorrow.

16:58

• Deputy Chairman of the CEC Lealba Pelinku said that electronic voting (not to be confused with biometric identification) has been a success and should be used in the next elections. Electronic voting has been trialed in Unit No.10 in Tirana.
• She said that if used in the next election, electronic voting will be 100% successful.
• On the topic of a number of biometric identification operators being absent from their positions today, she said that while there is no evidence, they believe they withdrew due to pressure.  These incidences were low, she stated.
• Additionally, there were cases where someone turned up to vote but they had previously been identified. This, she said, was likely due to someone else using their identity.

16:49

• Dibra has recorded the highest voter turnout as of 15:00 with 44.17% of the vote. Independent candidate Elton Debreshi called on citizens to exercise their right to vote. He said the outcome of the elections in Dibra will be historic.

16.36

• Political analysts Fatos Lubonja and Mentor Nazarko have commented on the elections so far. They both said that high voter turnout favors the opposition.

16.30

• An Ora News film crew was threatened and removed from a polling center in Shkodra after they observed family voting taking place. Family voting is where multiple members of the family go to the same booth to cast their votes. A video shows them being threatened by members of the Commission and being removed from the building.

16.24

• The European Parliament Rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon said it’s “not acceptable” that Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti voted on the parliamentary elections in Albania on Sunday.
• “I cannot understand what this is all about. On one hand, everyone in Kosovo complains about interference from Serbia or from President Aleksandar Vucic himself but on the other hand here does the PM of Kosovo even votes in a neighboring state. Not acceptable. At least not for me,” von Cramon wrote on a Twitter post.

16:18

• The Mufti of Tirana, Ylli Gurra has called on citizens to come out and express their wishes by voting. He said that exercising the right to vote is a sign of dignity and power.

16:14

• 38,04% turnout was reported by the CEC as of 4pm. This is based on the information sent from 1612 out of 5199 voting centers.

16:11

• Another case of vote photographing was observed in Vlora. The police stated that it took place in Voting Centre 4498/1 which is located in the Industrial School. Police entered the center and attempted to arrest the individual but he was able to escape.
• His ballot has been voided and the person as been declared wanted.

16:09

• An incident has been reported in the Municipality of Maliq. It’s reported that a PD representative hit a man and woman with chairs. The incident took place in the corridor of the polling station and the couple sustained injuries.
• Voter turnout in Maliq is currently at 31.7%

15:54

• US Ambassador Yuri Kim is in Durres observing the election process. She called on candidates and political leaders to wait for the results of the elections.
• She commented on the high turnout and said it shows citizens are interested in their country. She called on authorities to investigate issues that have arisen.
• “Now is the time for candidates and political leaders to wait for the results,” she said.

15:44

• In North Albania, in the villages of Zus, Oblik, Koplik, Ktosh, and Dobrac there have been reports of party militants hanging around voting centers. There have been some conflicts between militants and Commissioners reported.
• Also in the North, issues with biometric identification of the elderly were also reported. This is due to problems recognizing fingerprints that have been worn away after years of agricultural labor.

15:43

• The CEC reported that 37.94% of voters have cast their ballots so far. Tirana voting levels have reached 42.98%. Some polling stations in the city have registered a 50% turnout.

15:41

• EU Ambassador Luigi Soreca is in Kavaja where he visited a voting center. He spoke with Commissioners about the use of biometric identification and the participation levels of the electorate.

15:40

• The CEC has announced that they have thwarted the hackers and their application is back online. Reports on turnout and voting progress have resumed as per a Tweet from Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi.

15.39

• Elderly people throughout Albania have encountered difficulties while voting, according to media reports. One of the main issues is biometric identification as the machines have not recognized their fingerprints.
• A similar issue was reported by a citizen at the Edith Durham school in central Tirana. They said elderly people were struggling with the process and there were some issues with the identification system.

15:21

• British Ambassador Duncan Norman is in Elbasan today where he gave a statement to the media. He said he was in the region due to recent incidents there during the run-up to the election. He said that the more citizens that go to vote, the less chance crime will have to manipulate the process.
• He said the Embassy has eight teams on the ground and is supporting some 600 local monitors.
• “We are advising people to vote and giving the message that democracy is achieved by voting.”

15.06

• A voter has been arrested in Shkodra for photographing his ballot. This is one of several such incidents today. Those photographing the ballot are believed to be involved in vote-buying as the image would be used as evidence of voting for a particular party or candidate.

14.57

• By 2pm, 35.62% of the population have voted so far. While Tirana has the most votes cast, in terms of percentage, Dibra leads the way with 41.54%.
• Durres 33.13%, Elbasan 37.32%, Gjirokaster 33.30%, Korca 33.24%, Kukes 37.40%, Lezhe 33.82%, Shkoder 30.66%, Tirana 39.69%, Vlora 26.03%, Berat 33.65%
• Over half a million citizens have voted so far. Data from the CEC puts the number at 597,946

14.24

• Comparisons between turnout today and turnout in 2017 may not be viable. On June 25 2017, temperatures soared across the country, leading to many voters deciding to stay at home. In fact, so low was the turnout that voting was extended past the scheduled end time in order to allow additional time for voters when the heat of the day had subsided.

14:37

• President Ilir Meta has been touring the country today to observe the ongoing election process. He called on the prosecution to ensure that the elections are free from electoral crime. He also called on members of the public to vote peacefully and freely. Meta said he was pleased to see there was a higher turnout when compared with 2017.

14:26

• The CEC has announced that its app for collecting voter turnout results has been hacked. In a statement, they said it had been offline for more than one hour and they were working to fix it.
• Ilirjan Celibashi told the media that they are going to implement “Plan B” and possibly plan C.
• Celibashi added that there have been sporadic cases of temporary suspension of the voting process, while added that 144 voting stations are doing the identification manually.

13.32

• A couple in Kavaja have gone to vote on their wedding day. The bride was pictured in her wedding dress, posting her ballot in the box adding “once I vote, then the wedding.”

13.30

• Commenting on Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti voting in the Albanian general elections, Eugen Cakolli from the Prishtina-based think tank Democratic Institute of Kosovo (IKD) said that it is unacceptable for Kosovo’s state leaders to vote in Albania’s parliamentary elections.
  “When someone as an ordinary citizen votes at the elections of another country, is somehow acceptable. But when a citizen holding a political position, even more, an executive power, this is not right at all,” Cakolli wrote referring to the fact that Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti voted in Tirana.

13:27

• Voting has been suspended at a voting center in Tropoje following a physical clash between voters.
• One person has been arrested in Shkodra for photographing their ballot paper.

13.25

• Former head of the CEC Kristaq Kume told Balkanweb that the process of voting has been smooth so far. He said there were some instances where voting centers opened late and there were also cases where candidates for deputies had been violating the law by remaining in voting centers.

13.23

• Euronews Albania and MRB are conducting an exit poll across polling stations. The poll is taking place between 7am and 7pm. Results will be published after the polls close.

13:21

• The CEC reported that 27.18% of voters, equivalent to around 329,910 citizens have voted so far. Tirana has the highest turnout with 31.19% or 56,565 citizens, followed by Berat with 29.29% and Fier with 27.44%.

12:49

• Council of Europe member and German MP Andrej Hunko is observing the elections in Albania. He said he cannot assess at the moment as he doesn’t have much information right now. There was a short break in the voting at the polling station located at Pjeter Budi school due to a power cut.

12:46

• Monika Kryemadhi, Chairwoman of SMI denounced an irregularity in the voting process at voting center 1824. She said that two observers found two stamped and completed ballot papers in favor of the PS. They were found in a room. The voting process was temporarily suspended and security footage will be seized.

12:30

• In Permet, record numbers of voters have been reported, resulting in a long queue outside the voting center. A journalist on the ground said this was the biggest turnout they had seen over the last few elections and that a record number of young people appeared to be taking part.