Kosovo/ CEC: Election results will be accurate, despite delays and doubts

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has insisted that the integrity of the vote has not been compromised and that the final results of the February 9 parliamentary elections will be accurate, despite doubts raised after delays in the vote count.

The counting of votes for candidates for deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo began with a day's delay on February 11 in only four municipalities, while in the remaining 34 municipalities it is expected to begin today, according to the CEC.

This may delay the announcement of the final results, as after counting these votes and verifying the votes for political entities, votes from outside Kosovo, conditional votes, and votes from people with special needs must also be counted.

In a media release, the CEC said that while the counting of votes for parliamentary candidates continued without problems in Lipjan, Obiliq and Partesh, "occasional" problems have occurred in Pristina.

The non-governmental organization network Democracy in Action (DnV), which monitored the election campaign and voting, said on Tuesday that the delays "are unacceptable and undermine confidence in the electoral process."

According to the law in force, in regular polling stations, only votes for political entities are initially counted, while their verification and the counting of votes for candidates of political entities must begin the day after the elections.

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, raised suspicions that there may be "vote manipulation", but has not provided any evidence.

"The reports we are receiving from the field testify to an organized scheme to manipulate the election results. Through the political control of the CEC and the 'failed technical system' which is happening intentionally, an attempt is being made to change the will of the citizens," Haradinaj said on Tuesday.

The CEC dismissed these suspicions in a response on Wednesday, saying that "the integrity of the vote is not compromised and despite the delays caused by problems with the electronic platform, the final results will be accurate and based on the will of citizens expressed through their votes."

She said she has called on the State Prosecutor's Office and other security institutions to clarify the situation and for technical support, following occasional troubles on the platform for preliminary results that began on Sunday.

"The CEC has made itself available for cooperation with all relevant stakeholders and is working to complete the counting and address technical issues of malfunction," she said.

And, when over 99 percent of the votes for political entities alone were counted, the ruling party, the Vetëvendosje Movement, won 40.81 percent of the votes, according to the CEC.

The non-governmental organization network Democracy in Action (DnV), which monitored the election campaign and voting, said on Tuesday that the delays "are unacceptable and undermine confidence in the electoral process."

According to the law in force, in regular polling stations, only votes for political entities are initially counted, while their verification and the counting of votes for candidates of political entities must begin the day after the elections.

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, raised suspicions that there may be "vote manipulation", but has not provided any evidence.

"The reports we are receiving from the field testify to an organized scheme to manipulate the election results. Through the political control of the CEC and the 'failed technical system' which is happening intentionally, an attempt is being made to change the will of the citizens," Haradinaj said on Tuesday.

The CEC dismissed these suspicions in a response on Wednesday, saying that "the integrity of the vote is not compromised and despite the delays caused by problems with the electronic platform, the final results will be accurate and based on the will of citizens expressed through their votes."

She said she has called on the State Prosecutor's Office and other security institutions to clarify the situation and for technical support, following occasional troubles on the platform for preliminary results that began on Sunday.

"The CEC has made itself available for cooperation with all relevant stakeholders and is working to complete the counting and address technical issues of malfunction," she said.

And, when over 99 percent of the votes for political entities alone were counted, the ruling party, the Vetëvendosje Movement, won 40.81 percent of the votes, according to the CEC.

The opposition party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, won 22.16 percent of the votes, while the Democratic League of Kosovo secured 17.60 percent of the votes.

The coalition between the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and NISMA won 7.46 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, the Serbian List – the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, won 4.43 percent of the vote.

The February 9 elections were the first regular elections that Kosovo has held since declaring independence.

Observers said the elections were peaceful, with some irregularities, but no major incidents.

The turnout was 40.59 percent of over 1.9 million eligible voters in Kosovo. Previously, the diaspora also voted for these elections, via mail, but also physically in several Kosovo diplomatic missions around the world./ REL