Albanian Diaspora will be able to vote in 2025 Elections
Following a landmark agreement between the Socialist and Democrats on external voting, Albanians living abroad will for the first time be able to exercise their right to vote in the 2025 elections. After more than five hours of debate on Wednesday evening, both the majority and opposition reached a consensus.
Why is this relevant
Albanian diaspora members have never been able to vote since leaving Albania. Now, not only they but also other Albanian citizens who are abroad during the electoral period for studies, diplomatic missions, or military assignments will be able to cast their votes by mail, provided they have previously expressed their intention to exercise this right with the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Context
Another change agreed upon in the electoral code concerns closed candidate lists. Although contested by smaller parties, the two major parliamentary parties, the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party agreed that the lists for deputies should not be 100% open. Fifty days before the election date, political forces will need to submit two lists to the CEC: one with half of the candidates selected by the party leader in a closed list format, and another list with two-thirds of the names where candidates will compete for each vote. The candidate who receives even one more vote than others on the list will be ranked at the top. Candidates who do not subject themselves to preferential voting will be ranked in the winning list after the names of deputies in the closed list.
These two electoral code changes were approved by the law commission on Wednesday, and on Friday, the amendments will be voted on by parliament in the final plenary session of this session. Despite having had two years to complete a comprehensive electoral reform, the parties did not reach consensus and were unable to address the recommendations of the OSCE ODIHR in the electoral code. The changes regarding the vote of emigrants and the lists of deputies were unavoidable obligations to fulfill after the Constitutional Court expressed its decision on both issues.
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