CEC begins ballot preparation for Albanian diaspora voters in 85 countries

Under the supervision of party representatives, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has officially started the stamping of ballot papers for Albanian citizens living abroad who have registered to vote in the May 11 parliamentary elections. The operation covers 245,953 ballot papers, which will be sent to 85 countries.

Why this is important: This is an important step in Albania’s preparations for diaspora participation in national elections. The process is tightly timed: stamping the ballots will take 48 hours, while inserting election materials into the two designated envelopes for each voter is expected to take another two days.

Context: Each ballot must be delivered by hand to the registered voter — no exceptions. Postal carriers are required to attempt delivery up to three times if the voter is not found at the listed address, leaving a written notice after each failed attempt. If delivery still fails, the sealed envelope will be held at the local post office until March 3 (in cases where this is the applicable window), after which it must be returned to the CEC unopened if the voter does not collect it.

Once received, voters must complete the ballot and send it back using the same postal company. The final deadline for ballots to arrive in Albania is 7:00 p.m. on May 11. Any envelope that arrives after this time, regardless of when it was sent, will not be counted.

The process is being closely monitored to ensure transparency and security, especially given the logistical complexity of overseas voting. This is the first time Albanian citizens abroad are participating in national elections through postal voting at this scale.