Election campaign officially kicks off April 11, parties finalize opening rally plans
The official start date of the electoral campaign for Albania’s May 11 parliamentary elections has been confirmed as Thursday, April 11, but major political parties are setting their own timelines for launching public rallies. While all parties have already been holding informal campaign events for weeks, this date marks the formal beginning of the race.
Why this is important: The way parties organize their opening events often signals strategy, momentum, and how they intend to engage voters over the next month. This year’s campaign will also see the participation of Albanian citizens living abroad, who will vote by mail — a process with tight deadlines and logistical complexity.
Context: The Democratic Party has confirmed it will hold its opening campaign rally on Friday, April 11 at 19:00 in Mother Teresa Square. The Socialist Party, meanwhile, will stage its main event a day later — on Saturday, April 12 at noon. Final details of the Socialist rally are still under discussion at party headquarters.
Although April 11 marks the official campaign start, all political forces have already been actively presenting their candidate lists, holding meetings, and promoting platforms for nearly a month in anticipation of the official period.
Ballot papers for voters living abroad have arrived in Albania from Slovenia. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the distribution process will begin mid-week. The ballots will be placed in envelopes and sent to registered addresses of Albanian voters living overseas.
CEC Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi announced via social media that ballot envelopes will arrive between April 15 and 22 for Albanian citizens living in Europe, and between April 15 and 25 for those in other continents.
Each voter abroad will have only three days to fill out and return their ballot. The completed ballots must be returned using the same postal company that delivered them. Voters will not pay for postage; all shipping costs are covered by the CEC.
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