TIRANA, May 11 /ATA/- Albania’s voting process to elect members of the 140-seat parliament has just kicked off.
There are 5,225 polling stations across Albania, which will be closed at 19:00 in the evening.
According to data published by the Albania’s Interior Ministry, a total of 3,713,761 Albanian citizens will vote, in the country and abroad – of which 114,642 are first time voters.
In addition, 3,027 convicted and detained persons are expected to exercise their constitutional right to vote in 21 institutions for the execution of criminal decisions.
For the first time, two separate voter lists will be used: one for residents within Albania and another for those voting from abroad. For the first time ever, Albanians living abroad can vote from their countries of residence.
Also, citizens whose identification documents have expired will also be able to vote.
A total of 3,534,792 ballots were produced for voters within the country, adding 2% to the number of voters.
A total of 53 parties, 3 pre-election coalitions and new parties are registered to compete for seats in the 140-seat parliament. The ballot paper feature 11 candidate lists of political parties and coalitions.
A total of 5316 police officers and vehicles will be deployed to protect election facilities and escort the election materials. After handing over the facilities that will serve as voting centers on Sunday morning, the police officers will be stationed at the designated points and will return to escort the election materials towards the CEAZs, at 19:00 hrs. //a.i/
