Albanian embassy in Greece announces extended postal hours amid voting material delivery issues

The Albanian Embassy in Greece has announced extended working hours at specific DHL offices in Athens and Piraeus, following numerous complaints about delays in the delivery of election envelopes to voters abroad — particularly in Greece.

Why this is important: As Albania approaches its May 11 parliamentary elections, the integrity of the diaspora voting process has come under question. According to official data, while over 68,000 envelopes were sent to Greece (27.8% of all mailed), fewer than 8,000 (3.2%) had reached the Central Election Commission (CEC) by April 30. Concerns over the effectiveness of the postal service and the safeguarding of voter identity have prompted political reactions from both major parties.

Context: Starting April 30, DHL branches in Athens and Piraeus will be open from 09:00 to 18:00 to facilitate the timely receipt and return of ballots. This follows widespread reports of voters failing to receive their voting packages, or receiving them through unofficial intermediaries.

The Democratic Party has alleged that in several cases, envelopes were not handed directly to voters, but collected by third parties without proper identification or signatures. Specific incidents were cited in Greece, where entire batches of envelopes were reportedly taken on behalf of political entities.

The Socialist Party also raised concerns, reporting that in both Greece and Italy, DHL had not followed standard protocol and failed to deliver complete voting packages — some of which arrived without ballots.

What’s next: With approximately 30,000 envelopes still undelivered, the CEC is urging faster action. Officials stress that distribution must be completed in time for voters to return their ballots before the legal deadline. The outcome of this logistical challenge may shape the credibility of Albania’s first full-scale experiment with diaspora voting.