Coalition for Reforms, Integration and Consolidated Institutions (KRIIK) in pursuit of citizens’ denunciations broadcasted by the Investigative Show “Boom” on “Ora News” TV, denunciations in other media and especially in the media statements of the Minister of Interior and Director General Office of Civil Status published on October 5, 2020, <\/a>The P<\/a>UBLIC STANCE<\/a><\/strong> \u201cThe Ministry of Interior to make full transparency, periodically, on the whole process of drafting and correcting the voter list\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In it, KRIIK emphasizes that the start of the process of\ndrafting and verifying the voter lists is the most important process, which\ndirectly affects the citizen’s right to vote. This process is of major\nimportance in the case of these parliamentary elections as it affects, in the\nfirst place, the allocation of parliamentary seats for each constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By tracking the whole situation and\nconsidering the circumstances, KRIIK notes that, regarding this issue ascertained\nby the media, on the part of the Ministry of Interior there is a serious\nlack of transparency and at the same time there is an not at all appropriate\nand correct attitude of the <\/strong>two\nsenior state officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, allusions that this is an issue\nstifled by opposition parties and non-professional media, in the first place\nconstitute direct statements of intimidation towards the media, <\/strong>violating\nthe freedom of investigation and coverage of citizens’ problems in relation to\nstate institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, it is assessed that the clarifications given and the statements made do\nnot appear to constitute a complete and correct institutional position<\/strong> on\nthe cause of the problem and the appropriate institutional solution to the\nissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In essence, in a total lack of transparency, the official explanations served raise even\nmore doubts about what really happened to the confusion of the citizens’\naddresses of residence<\/strong>, the way they were collected, how the address was\ndetermined as the residence of citizens and how the data was migrated from the\nNational Register of Addresses to the National Registry of Civil Status (NRCS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n KRIIK\nemphasizes that the change of residence\nin the National Registry of Civil Status is directly related to the electoral\nnumber<\/strong>, ie the list of voters, therefore calls on the Minister of Interior as the responsible authority charged by law\nto make and ensure continuous transparency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This transparency should be comprehensive,\ndetailed in the steps taken and the mechanisms used, accompanied by a sound\nlegal basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, in the judgment of KRIIK, it is necessary for\nthe Minister of Interior, together with other responsible institutions, to make\nthe full transparency <\/strong>that they refused to do during the nearly 7 months of\nthe process of drafting and clarifying the voter lists for local elections\n2019, during which the addresses of residence were verified for about 283,338\nvoters, who until then were listed with unknown addresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarifying the address of these voters, today has a direct weight first in\ndetermining the number of seats for each constituency, a decision which is\nexpected to be taken by the Regulatory Commission of the new CEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KRIIK\nbrings to the attention of the Ministry of Interior problems identified, also\nin the Instruction of the Minister of Interior no. 298 dated 10.09.2020 for the\npreparation of the voter list for the electoral process of April 25, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among other\nthings, it is found that it remains unclear and disturbing why this Instruction\nis drafted in the same form as the 2018 instruction, not explicitly defining “automatic list generation by the NRCS\nsystem<\/strong>“, as defined in the instructions previous ones of 2016 and\n2014, thus leaving room for its manual management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Document calls on the Minister of Interior\nto correct and improve the Instruction so that he fulfills the legal\nobligations deriving from the Electoral Code regarding the minimum number of\nvoters for a VC; the process of written notification of voters and the mechanism\nof accountability of Mayors for this process; the financial fund for this\npurpose which should be made available to the municipalities on 06.10.2020;\nimproper forecasting of notification models as well as other suggestions based\non the experience and problems encountered during previous processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, KRIIK urges the Ministry of Interior and the DGCS,\nimmediately after the publication of the first extract of the electoral\ncomponents of all voters, to make a full presentation of the entire process\nfollowed, as well as to publish all the summary data of this extract, paying\nspecial attention to the situation of voters with permanent residence outside\nthe territory of the Republic of Albania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KRIIK also urges the State Election Commissioner and the\nDeputy Commissioner to take immediate steps to appoint two technical auditors\nas soon as they take office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new CEC should pay special attention to the monitoring of\nthe process carried out by the Municipalities of the country, both for the\ndrafting and specification of the voter list, as well as for the designation of\nVoting Centers, especially those in rural areas where to use for the first time\nthe minimum criterion of 300 voters for a polling station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This oversight, in the context of a totally\none-sided local and central government, is\nof great importance in increasing the credibility of the process<\/strong> in the\nface of competing political actors, but\nabove all in increasing civic confidence in the upcoming electoral process<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The full document in .pdf format can be downloaded HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n