OSCE / ODIHR observers presented today the preliminary report on the progress of the April 25 elections in Albania.
Azay Guliyev, special coordinator and short-term head of the observation mission in Albania, said that in these elections there were no problems with the voter list.
Excerpts from the statement
The PACE delegation is aware and it was a challenge to hold elections in a pandemic, in general, the voting was successful and some problems were noted, some VCs had problems with the voting of people with disabilities, in some there were gatherings but in general success.
Vote buying remains a serious problem, it has a negative impact on confidence in the electoral process or the pressure that may have been put on it. Yesterday was better than campaign days.
We understand that it is not easy to verify all violations, we are observers, not investigators. The delegation expects to be informed in the coming days, the report will be approved on May 28, I want to mention that PACE, as well as Venice, are ready to continue and improve the electoral framework.
The observation has been made since March in all regions to build confidence in the elections in Albania. The identification process was important, but for the count, which continues to this day, election day was transparent.
I visited Durrës, Elbasan, Berat, I met candidates, civil society. We have also heard statements about vote-buying and selling. We will stay here for the next week as well. We will follow up on any complaints and problems, we will write our final report.
The most serious event unfortunately were these incidents that caused human suffering. The most serious event is that of Elbasan. There should be punishment for this case."
The special coordinator and short-term head of the OSCE-ODIHR observation mission in Tirana, Azay Guliyev, said that the voting of Albanian emigrants could also take place through embassies.