Download the Statement in pdf
Tomorrow, on May 11, 2025, will be held the Elections for the Assembly of Albania, as decreed by the President of the Republic on December 5, 2024.
The Coalition for Reforms, Integration and Consolidated Institutions (KRIIK), in continuation of its ongoing commitment to strengthening and ensuring the integrity of elections, law enforcement, and free and uninfluenced voting, has continuously monitored the activity of the Central Election Commission and preparations related to this electoral process, and will partially follow it in all its phases, by voluntarily engaging 38 experienced observers in monitoring the work of the Electoral Administration Zone Commission, the voting process, and the vote counting process.
Regarding the findings so far and those on Election Day, KRIIK will issue a preliminary statement on Monday on the progress of this process.
Through this Statement, published one day before Election Day, KRIIK calls on all Albanian citizens with the right to vote to come out massively tomorrow and vote freely and uninfluenced by anyone.
Expression of the freedom of thought and exercising the vote is a fundamental right for citizens in a democracy, enshrined in the Constitution of Albania, which is at the foundation of the democratic system, a democratic system that serves and has at its center the Albanian citizens, their well-being and full freedom.
KRIIK also calls on Albanian citizens living abroad who have received the voting envelope from the CEC to complete and send it as soon as possible, according to CEC instructions, so that their vote has value, arriving in the territory of the Republic of Albania before 19:00 tomorrow, when the official voting hours in the polling stations within the country close.
Today and tomorrow until 19:00 is the period of complete electoral silence.[1]
This period is defined by Law to provide complete peace and opportunity for every citizen to reflect and freely and uninfluentially form their will on how they will express their vote tomorrow.
KRIIK informs and reminds the entire public opinion, especially all electoral subjects and their candidates but also all institutional and law enforcement actors, that in order to maintain electoral silence the Legal Framework in force obliges:
- all audio-visual media, which broadcast at national, regional or local level, not to broadcast or rebroadcast any information with electoral content;
- all online media or portals not to allow on their interface political and electoral advertisements, whether these are posters, videos, reels or pop-ups;
- all political parties, election candidates or third-party actors supporting an electoral subject or candidate, not to pay for, or allow the transmission during this two-day period of previously paid political advertisements on any social network platform;
- all electoral subjects and their candidates to remove from the entire territory of the country any poster, advertisement in citylights, electronic advertisement and any other propaganda material used for the electoral campaign. According to the law, mayors, municipal police officers and state police officers are also responsible and charged with duties for their removal. [2]
- all electoral subjects and their candidates to stop holding rallies or any other electoral activity, including through direct contact or telephone messages or social networks with citizens, as well as door-to-door meetings with voters on the ground (Article 77 of the Electoral Code);
Also, KRIIK informs the entire public opinion, especially all electoral subjects and their candidates, as well as all institutional and law enforcement actors, that, in implementation of the Electoral Code (articles 109, 110) and ODIHR Recommendations,[3]
the Central Election Commission has already approved the full regulatory framework for the mechanism which prohibits the presence of unauthorized persons within a radius of 150 m around the polling stations,[4] thus completing an additional mechanism also in function of preserving the secrecy of citizens’ vote.
According to this regulation, apart from Security Coordinators, any member of the polling station commission, Election Administration Zone Commission, observer or voter, when they identify violations of other legal or sub-legal acts regarding the presence of unauthorized persons in the premises around the polling station, in the yard of the building, at its entrance, in the internal corridors of the building where the polling stations are located and around them at a circular distance with a radius of less than 150 m, immediately notifies the CEC through the telephone number made available to the electoral administration 199, Whatsapp or the CEC app.
This legal mechanism, completed fully for the first time, for its full and effective implementation requires the interaction of the electoral administration, CEC and State Police, to put an end to the presence of unauthorized persons, whether they are patronage workers of political parties, representatives of local or central government without accreditation, unaccredited representatives of political parties and candidates, problematic individuals with the law without accreditation, etc., who by their presence violate the right sanctioned by law on the secrecy of citizens’ voting, a right which includes not only information about whom the citizen voted for, but also whether they went to vote or not.
Therefore, KRIIK calls on all accredited political observers at polling stations that providing information about which citizens have voted or not puts them in violation of the law.
The same applies to all members of the Polling Station Commission, who are in the duty of the Temporary Electoral Administration and in exercise of their responsibilities must implement only the obligations of the Law and the instructions of the CEC, behaving as non-political, non-partisan and impartial administrative officers, regardless of whether they are proposed or are activists of political parties.
In continuation of respecting the Law on preserving the secrecy of the vote, KRIIK brings to the attention of all political entities and candidates that organized accompaniment of citizens to vote constitutes not only a violation of the secrecy of the vote but also direction or intimidation towards their vote.
Also, KRIIK calls on all Heads of Public Administration, at any level, that any request, to public administration employees under their supervision, to vote or to provide information whether they voted or not, constitutes a violation of the secrecy of the vote, which should be denounced and is pursued by law enforcement bodies.
This call also applies to all Directors or Administrators of Private Companies, who ask their employees to go to vote or to provide information whether they have voted or not.
At the conclusion of this Declaration, KRIIK makes a public call and requests:
– The Central Election Commission to engage maximally to have the entire process under control by promoting full law enforcement and offering maximum transparency, guaranteeing all necessary infrastructure and logistics, the smooth running of the voting and counting process, and to ensure efficient follow-up and addressing of any observed violation, indication received, denunciation made or proper non-fulfillment of duties by the electoral administration.
– Leaders of Political Parties, at central and local level, to exercise their authority to keep their members and supporters under control by avoiding any form of gathering outside the premises of the Polling Stations, as well as gatherings of any kind until the completion of the entire process.
They should also avoid any influence on election commissioners, proposed by them, and encourage them to perform their duty correctly, calmly and in maximum implementation of the letter and spirit of the law.
Political parties must fully respect electoral silence, today and until tomorrow evening, especially in prohibiting their electoral activity of contacts or door-to-door meetings with voters on the ground.
– The State Police to engage maximally and professionally to guarantee maximum order and peace for citizens and voters during election day.
In particular, the State Police, in implementation of the Electoral Code and CEC Instructions must prioritize the effective implementation of preventing and dispersing any gathering of unauthorized persons in the proximity of Polling Stations, responding in time to the requests of security coordinators, electoral administration and CEC.
– The task force of the CEC, General Prosecution and SPAK to operate quickly and efficiently in preventing the negative effect on the will of citizens to vote in freedom and full self-determination, as well as on the quality of the electoral process and law enforcement, by following with priority any denunciation or indication that may be observed regarding possible electoral crimes.
– Media to broadcast with professionalism and objectivity the entire process, as well as to widely inform or even denounce through the mechanisms available to the CEC or law enforcement bodies about any observed violation on law infringement or citizens’ rights to vote freely and in complete secrecy.
Media and all journalists are recommended in their broadcasts during the voting process to avoid identifying, publishing or interviewing persons who are in the premises of the Polling Station or who go to vote. – All non-partisan observers and all Citizens who go to vote to denounce any violations they see during the process, by informing and investing in particular the mechanism of control and prohibition against unauthorized persons who are around the polling stations.
[1] – Electoral Code, Article 77 “Election Campaign and Electoral Silence Period,” paragraph 2, “The day before the election date and the election date, until the closing time of voting, form the period of electoral silence. During the electoral silence period, no type of electoral campaign is allowed through media outlets, as well as the holding of rallies or other electoral activities by electoral contestants.”
– Decision no. 1047, dated 10.05.2025, of the State Election Commissioner “On prohibiting the publication/broadcasting of electoral spots/advertisements and electoral messages during the electoral silence period”.
[2] State Election Commissioner, Instruction no. 06, dated 23.03.2021 “On the use of propaganda and educational materials and rules for their display during the electoral campaign”, Article 3 “Designation of places for displaying propaganda materials”, point 1 “… Upon completion of the electoral campaign, electoral subjects take measures to remove all propaganda materials” and point 8 “Electoral subjects are allowed to display propaganda materials only in places designated by the mayor, according to this article, and take measures to remove them with the end of the election campaign.”
Article 7 “Bodies charged with implementing the Instruction”, “For the implementation of this instruction, the mayors, electoral subjects, municipal police officers and state police officers, as well as monitors appointed by the CEC are charged. Failure to comply with the obligations set forth in this instruction constitutes an administrative offense according to the provisions in the Electoral Code.”
[3] ODIHR Final Report on the 2021 Parliamentary Elections, Priority Recommendation no. 2 “The state should guarantee the right to a free and secret choice. Any form of pressure to disclose whether and how people voted should be prevented.”, page 30.
[4] – Regulatory Commission, Decision no. 24, dated 21.03.2025, “On some additions to decision no. 11, dated 25.03.2021, ‘On the method of establishment, organization, functioning of the voting center commission and conducting elections in the voting center’, as amended”.
– Regulatory Commission, Decision no. 25, dated 27.03.2025, “On some changes and additions to Decision no. 12, dated 30.12.2020 of the Regulatory Commission ‘On the approval of rules for the activity of the State Police in service of elections'”.
– Order of the State Election Commissioner “On order and security in facilities where voting centers are located, as well as around them, for the Assembly elections of May 11, 2025”, dated 15.04.2025.
Tirana, on 10.05.2025!
*This Document is published in Albanian and in English.
The Albanian version is the only official document.