TIRANA, Aug 4 /ATA/ The law on some additions and changes to the Electoral Code of the Republic of Albania took effect today after its publication in the Official Gazette.
For the first time, normative provisions are incorporated in the text of an Electoral Code about the voting of Albanian citizens abroad although this topic triggered a heated debate.
They have been drafted in such a way so as to enable flexibility and adaptability for the CEC and its constituent structures to detail the practice, procedure and way of voting abroad, while the Electoral Code provides for the basic issues of this voting.
Changes to the Electoral Code reached after the June 5 agreement between the political parties in the Political Council concern the right to vote for electors who have permanent residence outside the territory of the Republic of Albania and are registered in the National Registry of Civil Status .
Under the changes to the Electoral Code, voting from abroad will be organized and administered by the Central Election Commission. The latter will decide on the system of rules and voting procedures abroad.
Voting from abroad will be administered by the Central Election Commission, guaranteeing the integrity of the ballot and the secrecy of the ballot, from any interference with the ballot papers or the electronic voting information administered by it.
Also, the election period when general and local elections can be held in Albania has been changed.
The Code stipulates that in the next elections the electronic identification of voters will take place in the polling stations throughout Albania and creates the necessary space for the CEC to undertake pilot projects on the issues of electronic voting and counting.
The Code provides for the post of Deputy Commissioner for elections as a function fully dedicated to the preparation of the package of bylaws for this purpose and its subsequent implementation for next elections.
The Code also provides legal remedies to the pressing problems associated with the current provisions and their implementation and in some cases (eg in the field of election financing, gender quota) and is in line with the recommendations of specific projects undertaken by international organizations that operate in Albania.
The amendments to the Electoral Code put the emphasis on the issue of implementing gender quota in the Assembly and electoral councils introducing efficient binding mechanisms for implementation.
One of the essential changes in this Code is reformatting of the Central Election Commission, which is the institution responsible for organizing and administering elections and referendums, and which directs and oversees the activity of the election administration, monitors the activity of electoral subjects, state bodies and institutions, as well as the media in relation to the elections, as well as addresses administratively the requests or complaints related to the electoral process.
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