Albania local elections 2019: ODIHR observation mission final report

Following Albania’s local elections on 30 June 2019, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published its final report. While voting was conducted in a generally peaceful and orderly manner, the elections were held with little regard for the interests of the electorate and, in a climate of a political standoff and polarization, voters did not have a meaningful choice between political options.

Key recommendations include:

• Engaging political parties and other electoral stakeholders in electoral reform while keeping an open and inclusive dialogue to address the outstanding ODIHR electoral recommendations;
• Undertaking measures to eliminate the long-standing problem of misuse of administrative resources in and between elections, including establishing precise rules defining how public resources may and may not be used for electoral purposes, and making efforts to ensure that voters are not pressured to attend campaign events or vote in a particular way;
• Ensuring the voters’ right to a free and secret choice, including by reviewing the voting procedures and emphasizing the importance of ballot secrecy during the training of election commissions and in voter education materials;
• Adopting alternative formulas for nominating members of the election administration, supported by procedural safeguards for their independence;
• Ensuring the independence and impartiality of the election administration and the judiciary;
• Investigating all allegations of electoral violations by law enforcement bodies thoroughly and transparently, and establishing effective procedures for public administration employees to report any political pressure brought upon them in connection with their work.
• ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission on 22 May 2019 to observe the local elections. All 57 participating States across the OSCE region have formally committed to following up promptly on ODIHR’s election assessments and recommendations.