500 Democracy in Action static observers are present to supervise the electoral process in 500 polling stations in Kosovo. According to the DnV announcement, they will report during the day on the progress of the process, starting from the opening of polling stations, voting and until the completion of the process of counting the votes of political entities. According to field data, only 9% of polling stations opened late. There were only two cases in Prizren where, according to the DnV, its observers were denied access to information by the heads of polling stations.
DnV announcement
Democracy in Action is monitoring the progress of the electoral process with 500 static observers, who are present in 500 polling stations, determined based on a random representative sample. Our observers will report throughout the day on the progress of the electoral process, starting from the opening of polling stations, the voting process and until the completion of the vote counting process of political entities.
1,970,944 voters are eligible to vote in elections within Kosovo, of which 125,852 are first-time voters.
Following the voting process that took place yesterday in Kosovo's 19 diplomatic missions, where voters living abroad had the opportunity to physically vote for the first time in diplomatic missions, DnV believes that a similar democratic atmosphere will be conveyed in the elections being held in Kosovo today.
I. Opening of polling stations
There are a total of 2,589 polling stations in the entire territory of the Republic of Kosovo. According to field data, only 9% of polling stations opened late. It has been reported that the reason for the delays in opening polling stations on time was the lack of commissioners in 6% of polling stations.
The arrangement of polling stations was done in accordance with the rules set by the CEC. There were no reported cases where voting booths were not placed in the corners of polling stations, which could violate the secrecy of the vote. Likewise, there were no reported cases of cameras being placed in a way that could violate the secrecy of the vote.
II. Environment and security around Voting Centers
Although the election rules prohibit the placement of posters and other propaganda materials of political entities within a 100m perimeter of the Voting Center, our observers have reported the presence of such materials in 3% of the Voting Centers. The police are taking care of the security of the voting process, in accordance with legal provisions. No cases of police absence have been reported.
The right to participate in elections as a universal right should be guaranteed to all citizens without discrimination. Persons with disabilities should have equal opportunities to participate in public and political life, including voting. However, a significant number of Voting Centers in Kosovo continue to be inaccessible to persons with physical disabilities. It has been reported that 20% of Voting Centers nationwide do not have adequate infrastructure (e.g. ramps) that enable persons with disabilities to access the facility.
Informing voters to vote correctly
With the amendment of the Law on General Elections in 2023, some elements of voting have also changed, such as the preferential vote. In these elections, voters will be able to vote for up to 10 candidates, up from 5 as was allowed in the previous parliamentary elections. Consequently, each Voting Center must have clear instructions at the entrance on all voting rules. However, our observers reported that information posters were missing in 15% of Voting Centers.
IV. Participation of women in Polling Station Councils
The presence of female commissioners continues to be low in these elections, despite our continued calls for equal participation. It is reported that at least 73% of polling stations have female commissioners.
We recall that the participation of women as polling station commissioners in the past elections was around 31%.
Incidents at the opening of polling stations
Two cases were reported where DnV observers in the municipality of Prizren were denied access to information by polling station chairmen, namely at the Abdyl Frashëri Voting Center 2002/05 and Motrat Qirazi 2003/07.
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