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The Election Observation Action for the Albanian Parliament on April 25, 2021

KRIIK has continuously followed, since the conclusion of the observation action of the Parliamentary Elections 2017, almost all institutional, legal and political processes that are directly or indirectly related to the integrity of elections in Albania, including the electoral reform process; the political crisis launched in January 2019; the preparatory progress of the Local Government Elections of 2019, their development as well as all the institutional processes and stalemates that accompanied and followed them; the process of electoral reform from the beginning and then as an agreement reached by the Political Council; unilateral legal and constitutional changes and other important institutional and political processes to date.

KRIIK’s opinions and positions on these developments have been continuously made public through Public Statements or Attitudes, Open Letters, as well as through opinions and suggestions sent to lawmakers regarding the electoral reform, the Central Election Commission regarding the bylaws regulating the electoral process , or meetings with political and institutional actors, including the Special Parliamentary Commission on Electoral Reform, the Central Election Commission, political actors, international actors, etc. All these and other documents can be found on this page.

The process of the Elections for the Assembly of Albania of April 25, 2021, KRIIK has started to monitor in its entirety since the announcement of the date of the elections by the President of the Republic, on September 6, 2020. The Observation Action was publicly announced during the National Conference ” The Costs of Democracy II – Money in Politics and Electoral Integrity.

On March 11, 2021, KRIIK organized a Press Conference in which some concerns of KRIIK were made public regarding four important issues of the electoral process:

  1. the impact that Covid-19 will have on the organization of the electoral process, especially regarding the right of assembly and the right to vote;
  2. the integrity of the candidates proposed by the electoral subjects;
  3. opportunities for Albanians living abroad to exercise their right to vote, and
  4. the use of state resources during the election campaign.

On March 29, the First Interim Observation Report was published.

KRIIK has engaged 22 long-term observers across the country, who are observing key elements of the process and will continue to follow it until its completion. In addition, KRIIK will engage about 700 short-term observers to monitor the activity of the zonal election administration commissions in all CEAZs of the country before and during election day, as well as during the counting of votes; the process of opening, voting and closing polling stations in 360 randomly selected polling stations across the country, as well as the situation around polling stations and the voting process in about 800 polling stations, with mobile observers on election day . Also, the ballot counting process will be observed in all ballot counting stations, from its beginning to its end. Observation of 360 randomly selected polling stations guarantees generalization of findings with an error margin of ± 5%, with a 95% confidence interval.

KRIIK evaluates the electoral process using as criteria the internationally recognized standards for democratic elections, as well as the Albanian legal framework.

Findings from the observation process have been made public through a number of reports and public statements, as follows:

On March 11, 2021, KRIIK organized a Press Conference in which some concerns of KRIIK were made public regarding four important issues of the electoral process: (1) the impact that Covid-19 would have on the organization of the electoral process, (2) the integrity of the candidates proposed by the electoral subjects; (3) the right to vote for voters living abroad; and (4) the use of state resources during the election campaign.

On March 29, the First Interim Observation Report was published, covering the period from the day the election date was announced (September 6, 2020) to the start of the election campaign (March 25, 2021).

On April 24, the Second Interim Observation Report was published, which covered the election campaign period (from March 26 to April 23, 2021).

During Election Day, KRIIK held four press conferences in order to inform the public about the election process during that day. On Monday, April 26, the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions on the Electoral Process up to that point was published, including election day and the start of the counting process.

During the counting process, three press conferences were held, in which the public was informed about the progress of this process. On Friday, April 30, 2021, the Preliminary Statement on the Counting Process was published.

Currently, KRIIK is following the process of the appeals and preparing the Final Observation Report, which is expected to be published in June 2021. The final report will be followed by a separate report on the financing of electoral subjects and candidates, which is expected to be published in September 2021.

Throughout its activity, the primary goal of KRIIK remains a critical and constructive spirit, identifying strengths and issues that require improvement, as well as providing recommendations for improvement. The Final Observation Report and the Report on the Financing of Electoral Subjects and Candidates will be accompanied by recommendations for improvement and will be followed by advocacy and awareness-raising activities in order to fulfill these recommendations, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the integrity of the electoral process in Albania.

In addition to the ongoing pursuit of contextual political and institutional elements, the observation of
the technical elements of the process are focused on the conduct and decision-making of the Central Election Commission, as well as the conduct and law enforcement of the CEC administration; fulfillment of legal obligations by the Zonal Election Administration Commissions, institutions and other actors involved in the electoral process or that play a role in it; pre-election campaign conducted; the conduct of electoral subjects and institutions, as well as the use of state resources for electoral gain; etc.

The Election Observation Action for the Albanian Parliament of April 25, 2021 is being carried out in cooperation with 33 partner organizations, which operate throughout the country: