Elections in Kosovo/ Servers and equipment from Germany, Rohde: To ensure a secure electoral process

There are still three days left before the parliamentary elections in Kosovo. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced that all preparations have been made for the electoral process to take place on Sunday, 09.02. 28 political forces are competing in these elections, of which 20 political parties, five coalitions, two citizen lists and one independent candidate. About two million voters have the right to vote, of which 105 thousand are citizens voting outside Kosovo. The CEC announced that ballots have already been printed with a total number of 1,752,650 ballots, a number smaller than the number of voters.

Why are there fewer ballots than voters?

The smaller number of ballots is related to the fact that in all previous elections, the turnout of citizens in the elections was not more than 50% of eligible voters. "According to the CEC decision, 1,752,650 ballots were printed, of which 1,664,100 for voting at regular polling stations, 28,450 for conditional voting; 38,650 for voting by persons with special needs and as reserve ballots; and 21,450 for voting at diplomatic missions," the CEC statement said.

Based on the Voter List certified by the Central Election Commission, the number of Kosovo citizens with the right to vote is 2,075,868 voters, of which 1,970,944 voters are voters belonging to the Voter List within Kosovo and 104,924 voters are part of the Voter List outside Kosovo. "Therefore, according to the CEC decision, 323,218 or 15.57% ballots will be less than the number of voters. This is a practice followed by the CEC in past election processes," said CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi.

Rohde: Ensure a secure electoral process

The Central Election Commission received a donation of servers and equipment from Germany, supporting equipment that will help with the Counting and Results Center. The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jörn Rohde, said that this donation ensures a secure electoral process, strengthens the election administration bodies by increasing public trust. Rohde expressed his belief that Sunday’s electoral process will take place without difficulties.

"Democracy and free elections are the foundation of a prosperous society. We want to strengthen our future and the democracy that ensures individual freedom for all of us. Since the declaration of independence, Kosovo has made great progress in its rise and democratization. Therefore, the digitalization of the electoral process will be key to this progress. This donation of more than 140 thousand euros ensures that these current and future elections will be safe in Kosovo," said Ambassador Rohde. He expressed his 100% conviction that on Sunday Kosovo will have elections without difficulties.

Increasing electoral standards in Kosovo

The CEC appreciates the German donation. The Chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, said that "this support from the German state will affect the improvement of the infrastructure and the advancement of electoral standards in Kosovo". "The receipt of these modern servers marks further development of the CEC infrastructure and is a continuation of the process of digitalizing electoral operations. This support is valuable and will affect the improvement of our infrastructure and the advancement of electoral standards in Kosovo. Also, considering the role of the CEC, this donation is a major investment in the integrity of the electoral process and in the trust of citizens in the electoral process" , said Radoniqi, who together with the German Ambassador Jörn Rohde, encouraged citizens with the right to vote to exercise their constitutional right and go out to vote on Sunday.

The election campaign is at its peak.

Although there are only three days left until the elections, political entities are continuing their election campaign, where there is no shortage of inflammatory and hate speech among political opponents. The network of non-governmental organizations that monitors the election process, DnV, says that "the use of inflammatory and hate speech by political parties has continued", and for this reason the number of fines against them by the Panel for Complaints and Submissions ECAP has also increased. The figure of fines against political parties has already reached around half a million euros. "The number of activities where offensive, inflammatory or hate speech was used has almost doubled", according to DnV.

The Agency for Information and Privacy (AIP) has also urged political entities to protect citizens' personal data during the election campaign. It requires political entities to "implement legal obligations to protect citizens' personal data by not using and exposing personal data in communications via electronic mail (e-mail), text messages (SMS) and telephone calls, without prior consent ."/ DW