TIRANA, April 15 /ATA/- The Central Election Commission has made the decision on the ballot paper for the candidates running for mayor and city council members in the May 14 local elections.
At today’s meeting, it approved the content of the ballot paper for the candidates for mayor and for the candidates for members of the city council, Municipality of Tirana for May 14, 2023 local elections.
It also approved the content of the ballot paper for mayoral candidates and the ballot paper for candidates for municipal council members in the other 60 municipalities.
As for the candidates, their names will be put on the paper, below them the name of the entity they represent and the logo attached.
On the ballot paper, next to each political party, there will be the name of the political force leader.
But at the meeting of the CEC, there was a debate regarding the missing name of the leader of the “Together We Win” coalition.
The representative of the Democratic Party, Indrit Sefa, emphasized that this is a breach of the provisions of the Electoral Code and throws voters into confusion, asking for explanations why the name of Ilir Meta as the leader of the “Together We Win” coalition is missing.
He stated that this is the first case in the elections that the ballot paper does not contain the name of the coalition leader.
The representative of the Freedom Party, Kaziaj, explained their request not to put Ilir Meta’s name on the ballot paper with the argument that it has no effect because it is the program that is voted on.
According to him, the ballot paper contains all the elements.
Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi stated that the main principle in the law is the clarity of voters to make their choice.
“What makes the request of each electoral subject legitimate regarding the ballot paper is the clarity of its data as they should be clear for the voters. Secondly we have to make sure that the data of another subject do not confound voters about the electoral subject. There is no requirement laid down in the Electoral Code for the name of the chairman of the coalition,” said Celibashi.
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