According to data from the Central Election Commission (KQZ), as of Tuesday, February 24, over 80,000 Albanians living and working in Greece have applied to register for voting in Albania’s parliamentary elections scheduled for May 11.
Albanians in Greece account for approximately 28% of the total 227,000 registration requests received from the diaspora so far. They rank second after Albanians in Italy, where around 111,000 applications have been submitted to the KQZ.
From the electronic database of the KQZ, around 50,000 Albanians residing in Greece have had their applications approved and are now officially recognized as eligible voters. Meanwhile, approximately 13,000 applications have been rejected due to missing documentation.
According to data from the Greek Ministry of Immigration in January 2025, around 277,000 Albanians hold valid residence permits in Greece, making up 55.9% of all foreign residents in the country. Additionally, around 15,000 members of the Greek minority, who hold the special status of "homogeneous" in Greece while maintaining their Albanian citizenship, also have the right to vote in Albania’s elections.
However, analysts from Athens suggest that the actual number of Albanians holding Albanian documents in Greece—yet without a Greek residence permit—may be significantly higher than the official statistics provided by the Greek Ministry of Immigration.
The registration of only around 50,000 Albanian citizens in Greece for voting in the May elections suggests a relatively slow pace. With the registration deadline set for March 4, efforts are still needed to increase participation.
In response, major Albanian political parties have recently intensified their campaigns in various Greek regions with high concentrations of Albanian emigrants, urging them to register and vote. At the same time, Albanian authorities have taken steps to facilitate the process by deploying mobile platforms on several Greek islands to issue identity documents, making it easier for citizens to register for the elections.
According to the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) in its 2020 study “Diaspora in Figures,” the number of Albanian nationals living abroad was estimated at around 1.68 million, making up about 37% of the country’s total population. However, unofficial data from January 2025 suggests that this figure has now risen to approximately 1.75 million.
As of midday on Tuesday, February 24, the KQZ voter registration database recorded 226,780 Albanian citizens applying to vote by mail in the May 11 parliamentary elections. So far, 181,371 applications have been approved, while 39,282 have been rejected.
The regions in Albania with the highest number of registered voters from abroad include Tirana, Fier, Durrës, Elbasan, Korça, and Vlora, reflecting the strong ties between these areas and the Albanian diaspora.