Speaking to reporters, Celibashi said the commission was working to adapt all electoral preparations to the changes in the country’s administrative and territorial boundaries.

“The new territorial division law is currently in force, and we have no reason to anticipate what legal actions or initiatives interested parties may take in relation to it. There is no legal basis for us to discuss this issue. Since yesterday, we have been working to ensure that all measures related to preparations for the upcoming elections are adapted to the new administrative-territorial map of the Republic of Albania,” he said.

Celibashi was also asked about expanding electronic vote counting to more municipalities in the upcoming local elections.

He said the CEC supported extending the system to as many municipalities as possible, but stressed that the opposition Democratic Party’s objections could not be disregarded.

Although the commission considers the Democratic Party’s concerns about the security of the electronic system unfounded, Celibashi said political parties needed to reach an agreement on the issue.

“Our institutional position on electronic voting and counting remains unchanged. We have always supported expanding this system as widely as possible in the upcoming elections. However, the Democratic Party is the main opposition party, and we cannot ignore its position on the matter, even though the grounds for its opposition are entirely unfounded,” he said.

“Political parties are free to maintain their positions on this issue. The CEC is not a party to this debate. The governing majority should engage in dialogue with the Democratic Party and other political parties to seek an agreement,” he added.

Celibashi warned that reaching a decision without broad political agreement would be difficult, if not impossible, for the commission, as it could be perceived as serving the interests of one side at the expense of the other.

He reiterated his call for political parties to work together to reach consensus, stressing that the CEC did not wish to become involved in the political dispute.

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Addressing the forum for inter-disciplinary and open discussion of all issues related to electronic voting, including, but not limited to, polling stations, kiosks, ballot scanners, and internet voting, representatives from Albania’s central election body shared their experience in implementing the e-voting and counting pilot project in the general and local elections in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“The e-voting pilot project in the local elections showed that the process should also include an education campaign to familiarize voters with the technology,” CEC said in a release on Monday.

CEC noted that e- vote counting significantly reduces the time before the final election result is announced.

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A total 401 polling stations are opened for 310 846 eligible voters in the three municipalities.

Official data published from the Central Election Commission (CEC) show that voter turnout in Kamze municipality until 4 p.m. is with data reported from 72 out of 133 voting stations in total.

The voter turnout in 106 out of 224 polling stations in Elbasan is 31.59%  until 4 p.m.

CEC data show that voter turnout in 24 out of 44 polling stations in Vorë municipality is 36.82%.

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The State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi monitored the e-voting test process in Elbasan and said that the system fully guarantees the secret ballot.

Celibashi said that the e-voting will be applied in the municipalities of Elbasan, Kamza and Vora during the local elections next month.

“I would like to state that the system fully guarantees the secrecy of the ballot. There is no way or tools to identify the voters’ ballot. It fully ensures secrecy of the ballot and I would like to invite voters in these municipalities to take part and cast their vote for their preferred candidates,” the head of the Central Election Commission told reporters.

According to him, the e-voting system also avoids family voting, because the machine system accepts only one voter.

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