TIRANA, Dec 31 /ATA/ The legal representative of the Socialist Party at the Central Election Commission (CEC), Elena Xhina, said to the Albanian Telegraphic Agency that the SP fully agrees that the counting of the diaspora votes should be carried out by the administration of the Central Election Commission.
In her interview with the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), Xhina said that the Socialist Party has proposed that political parties should have observer status only.
“The Socialist Party concurs that the process of the diaspora vote counting should be carried out by counters assigned by the Central Election Commission (CEC), as outlined in the Electoral Code and proposed by the Chief Commissioner in the act for the administration of the vote, in the Regulatory Commission of the Central Election Commission,” emphasized Xhina.
“The method for counting the Diaspora votes is defined by law, and the lawmakers are fully aware of this. No one is permitted to overreach. The Socialist Party has requested that political parties be granted only observer status throughout the entire counting process, including the evaluation of votes sent via postal services from out of country voters,” Xhina concluded in her statement to the Albanian Telegraphic Agency.
A day ago, the Regulatory Commission gathered to discuss “the rules for counting and evaluating out of country votes, the relevant documentation and how to complete it, as well as the tabulation of the out of country voting results.”
The decision presented to the Regulatory Commission by the Chief Commissioner Ilirian Celibashi stipulates that the Diaspora vote be counted by the administration of the Central Election Commission. The decision was expected to be approved on Monday, but the parties did not reach an agreement. As a result, the decision has been postponed until next year.
Ilirjana Nano, Chairwoman of the Regulatory Commission at the Central Election Commission, clarified that this proposal from Chief Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi is based on the Electoral Code, which states that envelopes containing out of country votes should be counted by the CEC administration.
In regard to this proposal, the Democratic Party (DP) called for out of country votes to be administered in the same way as those cast in the country.
“The CEC is in no way authorized to create a new process, as the Electoral Code provides rules for the entire procedure. You are not permitted to establish a completely new procedure, different from that for Albanians who cast the ballot within the country. It should be the same as the process within the country,” said Kaso.
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