"1.1 million voters outside Albania", Celibashi: This document is not missing, they cannot vote

The head of the Central Election Commission, Ilirjan Celibashi, states that around 1.1 million Albanian voters live outside Albania.

Invited to the "Opinion" show on TV Klan, the head of the CEC states that so far over 22 thousand requests have been received from the diaspora to vote in the May 11, 2025 elections. He explained the procedures they must follow for registration. 

Excerpt from the interview: 

Ilirjan Celibashi: It takes about 7-8 minutes to register. 53% of those who have created an account on PER have done it on their first attempt. This is impressive for us.

Blendi Fevziu: How many Albanian voters live outside Albania?

Ilirjan Celibashi: 1.1 million Albanian voters are abroad and 2.6 are here. We have built the system so that everyone can register on the platform.

While showing the steps on how to create an account for voting abroad, the head of the CEC, Celibashi, says that immigrants who do not have an Albanian identification document cannot vote.

Ilirjan Celibashi: First you have to open an account in PER, declare a phone number, upload your ID number, date of birth. This is how you create an account in PER. Albanian personal identification number. For registration purposes, you must upload your Albanian identification document. You cannot register as a voter if you do not have an Albanian identification document.

Blendi Fevziu: Those Albanian immigrants with foreign documents who don't have an ID document can't vote?

Ilirjan Celibashi: No, they cannot vote. If yours has expired, you can register, but within 120 days you must renew the document. You will also need to upload a document that contains the address that you will upload to the system. If it is at work, a work document, a property document, a rental contract. You must declare the address where the ballot is expected to arrive. The mistake that an overwhelming majority has made is that they declared one address, but the document they uploaded has a different address.

How can illegal Albanian immigrants living abroad vote?

Ilirjan Celibashi: It can be with a different name, but it must be registered with the name that is here in the civil registry. It must upload a document that makes the connection between the name it has in the civil registry in Albania and the one in the other country. When changing the name, it must upload a supporting document.